A Macedon nursing student has been inspired by the passing of a close family member to install a defibrillator in her town's centre.
Ambulance Victoria responds to an average of 18 cardiac arrests every day, with the survival rate only 10 per cent.
However, with early access to fibrillation the survival rate increases to 78 per cent.
Emily Moody, 20, had already begun researching defibrillators for Macedon when her aunt's partner suddenly died, aged only 61.
"I did my CPR training earlier in the year and I realised we didn't have a defibrillator in town and the closest one was nearly two kilometres away, at the sports oval.
"You can't have enough really, because the quicker you get one when someone's having a cardiac arrest, the better the outcome."
A community effort
Ms Moody launched an online fundraiser with the aim of $2875 to install a defibrillator outside her family's Macedon Post Office in Victoria Street for eased public access.
The donations were kicked off by attendees at her family member's funeral and the target amount was raised within 24 hours.
"Very kindly, we got a first donation in his memory and a significant donation from his service," Miss Moody said.
"That kind of gave me the confidence to launch the fundraiser. I launched a GoFundMe at 9 o'clock at night; I woke up the next morning and we had $700 in there already.
Sunbury's Defib For Like contacted Ms Moody to supply the device.
Increasing survival rates
Bendigo paramedic Ben Millar says an increasing number of bystanders are assisting people in need, so the more defibrillators, the better for everyone.
"Stats show survival is significantly higher when patients are shocked first by a public defibrillator device; if there's a public defibrillator nearby there's a higher chance of survival."
Mr Millar says defibrillators are an "essential part" in the survival process following a cardiac arrest.
Macedon Post Office’s device will be installed in the coming days.
