By Mikayla van Loon
New life saving equipment has been installed in Lilydale, providing extra peace of mind to the community.
A defibrillator was opened at the Lilydale Community House (LCH) building on Hardy Street on Monday 14 August thanks to funding from Casey MP Aaron Violi’s Stronger Communities Grant round eight.
LCH coordinator Suyin Chan said it was always part of the plan to get a defibrillator installed because it is often an older demographic using the facilities.
“We were really keen to get one here mainly because the Senior Citizens Club use the hall all the time so there’s a lot of older people here that attend who are at a higher risk,” she said.
“There’s a good chance of a heart attack or needing a defibrillator, also, for our own members who come to our activities, our cohort tends to be a bit older.
“There wasn’t one in this building and I just thought it was vitally important to have one. Also having it accessible 24/7 so that if anybody on the street needed one, it was there.”
Located externally on the front entrance to the building, Ms Chan said it makes it completely accessible to the broader community.
“It just gives people peace of mind, it gives the general public peace of mind and certainly the senior citizens, they will know there’s one here in case they ever need it,” she said.
Having purchased one from St John Ambulance that requires no previous training, Ms Chan said it allows everyone to put this life saving equipment to use.
“We bought one that speaks to you, that’s fully automated so there’s no risk of anyone doing something wrong. They will be talked through it by the machine.
“We just thought we’ll get the one that’s best for saving lives. The fact that people don’t have to know how to do this sort of thing means they still have the opportunity to save someone’s life if it’s needed.”
Mr Violi congratulated LCH on its willingness to provide support to the broader community and commented on how essential this kind of equipment is.
“Defibrillators are absolutely vital during cardiac emergencies. To have this defibrillator in Lilydale is a huge win for our community as it will save lives,” he said.
“The defibrillator will provide all who use the community house with a sense of relief that in the event an emergency occurred, they have the equipment they need to ensure best chances of survival.
“It is a testament to the strong community spirit of the Yarra Ranges that this machine has been purposely placed outside, to enable more members of the community to benefit from it.”
