Almost every week, we hear of a life saved by an Aero AED; however it’s not every day that one is used to save an Australian icon!

Yellow Wiggle Greg Page was working to help the bushfire-stricken Aussies when he suddenly collapsed on stage. Grace Jones, a 23-year-old off-duty nurse, quickly responded by offering her assistance to the first responders and applied the nearby Heartsine samaritan 500P AED.

Within minutes of collapsing, CPR was commenced and would continue for over 26 traumatic minutes. During this time the Heartsine samaritan 500p was issuing real-time vocal commands instructing the responders to “push harder”, “push slower” and to “push faster”. These vital commands undoubtedly provided the first responders with the critical information they need to perform the CPR in the most effective way possible maximising the chances of Greg’s survival.

Two shocks latter, and what would have felt like an eternity, Greg regained cardiac output. Greg was then rushed to hospital.

Intensive Care Paramedic Brian Parsell, who was amongst the first paramedics at the scene and in 2015 was awarded the Ambulance Service Medal, stated that he was “very impressed with resuscitation efforts by The Wiggles team” but ultimately “the saviour of the day was the defibrillator”.

Every defibrillator sold, every bystander trained, is potentially another life saved.

Not everyone knows that High-quality CPR is just as important as having an AED. There was no better device to assist the rescuers in performing effective chest compressions, than the HeartSine samaritan 500P as used on Greg Page – and look at the fantastic result – Greg has already been discharged from the hospital!

People often think the chance of using an AED at their workplace is slim. However, with 20,000 – 30,000 cardiac arrests per year in Australia, it could happen to anyone anywhere at any time. With the reward being a possible life saved, workplaces and community venues cannot afford to take the risk of not investing in these life-saving devices.

We encourage you to espouse the virtues of AEDs and effective CPR contained in the samaritan 500P – it is so much more than just selling an AED – it is supporting the rescuer through the critical steps of the chain of survival.