Late last week several bystanders witnessed something that they all wish they didn’t at Tamworth Shoppingworld, when a man collapsed after a suspected cardiac arrest and couldn’t be brought back to life.
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While bystanders performed CPR, there was no defibrillator available. Despite the ambulance arriving within 10 minutes, it is believed the man was pronounced dead shortly after.
Michelle Brydon was not there, although her 17-year-old son was. The local mum has now taken it upon herself to campaign that every local shopping centre has a public defibrillator available, and that everyone knows basic CPR and is not afraid to “have a go”.
Ms Brydon is no stranger to CPR herself, having witnessed a heart attack on Peel St some years ago, although it wasn’t until she saw the effect that this latest incident had on her son that the power of CPR and a defibrillator “really hit home”.
“He was just really shocked and down on himself – he is still wondering if he could have done something to help, he is CPR trained, but no 17-year-old is ready for something like that,” Ms Brydon said.
“It really got me thinking about what could be done to get awareness out there, and not just for defibrillators but also for people to put their CPR training into action if something happens and don’t wait for someone else to do it or for something else to happen.”
After calling the Heart Foundation, who offered a supportive ear for her son and some good information for her new mission, Ms Brydon wants to start a local campaign to get a defibrillator in every shopping centre, and an awareness campaign for CPR.
The West Tamworth Rotary Club has assisted in the funding of 16 new $3000 defibrillators in the last ten months, and publicity officer James Hindmarsh has come out with an offer to assist with even more.
“Any one organisation, business or sports organisation interested in putting one in should contact us, we will be more than happy to help out – we want to see another 10 to 15 in the next 12 months,” Mr Hindmarsh said.
“They should almost be a fait de complete for shopping centres – in the scheme of their duty of care $3000 is not a lot to fork out.”
It turns out that Shoppingworld aren’t on their own, with no defibrillator at Southgate, Target, or The Atrium either, while Northgate and City Plaza did not return The Leader’s phone calls on Wednesday.
Centrepoint and the Robert St IGA do have the life saving technology, with Centrepoint asset manager David Claire suggesting that the technology is extremely important for public shopping spaces such as theirs.
“We are in the middle of the CBD with mixed clientele, including senior citizens and a strong community focus, so anything that can assist like this is almost a must have item,” Mr Claire said.
Shoppingworld marketing assistant Holly Graham confirmed that the organisation “was already in the motions of getting a defibrillator” and will have one installed in the near future.
