June 25, 2021
Another potentially life-saving defibrillator has been installed inside a Kingaroy store.
The Sunshine Mitre 10 store in Rogers Drive has joined the growing list of locations where the devices are available.
The Kingaroy store is one of 18 in the Sunshine Mitre 10 group across Queensland where defibrillators are now available.
General manager Neil Hutchins said the defibrillators were an investment in emergency health care not just for their staff, but also for the communities in which they operate.
“We have over 400 staff across our locations, and we take our duty of care very seriously so we have first aid officers at each location, and now we also have defibrillators which can help save lives for anyone experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest,” Mr Hutchins said.
Mr Hutchins said Sunshine Mitre 10 had sourced the defibrillators from iHeart180, a company founded by former ironman and lifesaver Guy Leech in 2016, after he lost a mate to sudden cardiac arrest.
Mr Leech said while there was no nearby defibrillator when his mate “Chucky” had a heart attack and died, quick access to a defibrillator could be the difference between life and death.
“More than 500 people a week have heart attacks or strokes. Unless a defibrillator is put on you within about three minutes, you’ve got a 10 per cent chance of survival.”
Mr Leech said the defibrillators were easy to use, with the machine giving instructions during use. He said they would only shock the patient if they needed to be shocked.
Other defibrillator locations in the Kingaroy area include South Burnett Care, Anderssons Fruit Market, Woolworths, Kingaroy Library, Kingaroy Red Ants Club, the South Burnett Enterprise Centre, Kingaroy Visitor Information Centre, Kingaroy Showgrounds, Kingaroy Shoppingworld and Kingaroy Bowls Club.
