Ian Chapman has been saving lives for over 29 years, but now he is on a crusade to save even more.
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Three years ago the Tamworth paramedic and Parasol EMT instructor and his wife, Geraldine, thought of an idea, that turned into a passion, creating an app to instantly show people where the nearest Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is located in an emergency.
The couple used local company Techbit to design the AED Locator app, which relies on community feedback in order to get the location of any new or existing AED’s.
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There are currently 60 on the app in the Tamworth region, and the Chapman’s are urging people not only to do a course to become familiar with how they work, but in the case of an emergency have a go anyway.
“Anything is better than nothing, so at least call triple 0 and they can instruct you on the phone, otherwise the AED will also talk you through it step by step,” Mr Chapman said.
“Only 3-5 per cent of people survive with straight CPR, but with an AED within seven minutes that increases to 40 per cent. Every minute that nothing is done there is a 10 percent less chance of survival,” he said.
“As a paramedic I have seen a lot – we get there 10, 15 or 20 minutes later – survival rates with an AED go up tenfold, and it is all about survival.”
When activated the AED Locator can call 000, and then opens Google Maps with the exact locations of the nearest AED’s, and if they are inside a building the opening times.
Later this year the Chapman’s son Michael will be cycling 4,500km from Cape York to Hobart via Tamworth to promote the app and Parasol EMT training.
