Former Yellow Wiggle Greg Page survived a cardiac arrest while performing at a Wiggles reunion show in January 2020. He survived because bystanders knew how to do CPR and there was an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) nearby in the club where he was performing. Of 28,000 cardiac arrests each year in Australia, only 10 per cent of people survive, in part due to the lack of access to an AED. Greg is one of those lucky ones. Since the incident, Greg has now made it his mission to save more lives with his initiative, Heart of the Nation and has received a huge kick start to his community campaign this month.
“Having an AED within 3 minutes of someone suffering a cardiac arrest can increase survival rates by 200 to 300%. I have no doubt that it was the quick action of bystanders and the use of an AED that saved my life that day,” explained Greg. “My charity, Heart of the Nation, aims not only to equip people with better access to an AED, but to also provide increased knowledge to people about where these devices are located.”
Greg explained that this month, Mounties Group has stepped up to support his mission by pledging the purchase of 50 AEDs that they aim to position in neighbourhoods across Western Sydney, the Northern Beaches and the Central Coast under the banner of Mounties Care. “I am absolutely delighted to be partnering with Mounties Care to deliver 50 AEDs within local communities near their club venues. Our aim is to position these defibrillators at bus stops or in the neighbourhoods of high traffic areas so that more Australians have access to life saving medical support,” Greg commented.
Mounties Group CEO, Dale Hunt, said Heart of the Nation Communities is a program that helps to get AEDs into residential areas where 80% of cardiac arrests happen.
“Greg is living proof that the use of an AED to deliver an electrical shock to a patient’s heart dramatically increases their chance of survival. The fact that he was assisted in a club really resonated with us and we want to back his mission to get more defibrillators into the community,” Hunt commented “There are many stories of people around the world who have been saved by publicly accessible AEDs and we want to get these 50 machines we have funded into the community as quick as we can. If we can equip communities with the ability to respond to a cardiac arrest with an AED and people know how to perform CPR, we believe there’ll be an upturn in survival rates as well,”
Mr. Hunt said that Mounties Care together with Heart of the Nation is working with local councils to develop a plan to roll out these life-saving machines in local target areas.
