‘Shocktober’ training for heart attacks

WELLINGTON: The St John ambulance service is hoping to equip 10,000 people with the skills to intervene during a heart attack.

It has started an initiative called ‘‘Shocktober’’, aimed at teaching people the steps to take when faced with such an event, such as chest compression and using a defibrillator.

Free public training events will be held throughout the country as part of the initiative.

The service’s head of community education, Jacci Tatnell, said New Zealand’s heart attack statistics were shocking, but timely interventions could increase survival rates.

— RNZ