National sponsor TAL has part funded the distribution of defibrillators to all medical chest holders in Outback South Australia.
TAL employees have seen the results of their fantastic fundraising with the delivery of the first defibrillators to RFDS medical chest custodians. TAL staff ran a campaign called 'Insuring the Heart of Australia' where they raised funds for these life-saving machines in SA. Through their fundraising they managed to raise a massive $112,185 which was enough to provide 80 defibrillators.
The first of these life saving machines were delivered to medical chest custodians in Kingoonya, SA last week. Thanks to the generosity of TAL staff, RFDS Central Operations have been able to provide defibrillators to all Medical Chest owners in South Australia. It was a pleasure to have a representative from TAL join us in Outback SA to present the first of the defibs to some very grateful recipients.
Medical Chest owners from surrounding stations met in Kingoonya to receive their new defibs and training. A BBQ lunch was enjoyed along with a few words of appreciation shared from both TAL, the RFDS and the community. The RFDS dental team were also providing dental check-ups to all who made the trip to Kingoonya for the day!
The AED's were a welcome gift to those that received them. Many community members mentioned that they had always thought they should have a defib available for those that live and work on their property, but the expense of the life saving machines ment they never quite made the top of the list.
"With tough times and drought conditions these pieces of equipment are normally the 'go without' options due to the cost of them, but thanks to the staff of TAL you have made it possible for us to have such a machine here to save lives if required."
One station owner knew the importance of defibrillators in remote areas after her own experience of cardiac arrest and was particularly grateful for the gift:
"At the age of 31 and a mother of 3 young children I had my first cardiac arrest and thankfully survived it, (because of a defibrillator) even though I was in a remote outback town at the time.
Defibrillators do save lives and cardiac arrests can happen to people of all ages, I found this out the hard way"
Another gentleman had been the first responder to a cardiac arrest when a man collapsed while working on his property. He performed CPR for an hour and a half until the Flying Doctor arrived and got the man to hospital. The man survived thanks to the life saving CPR that was performed and word has it, when he woke up in hospital his first words were "jeez, i have a bit of a sore chest."
After this experience they were certainly looking forward to having the assurance of a defibrillator on the property in the future.
TAL staff have only been further motivated by this huge success and now set their sights on fundraising for more defibs for other areas of Outback Australia. Thankyou TAL!
National Community Partnership TAL InsuranceFind out more about our National Partnership with TAL Australia
