Whitireia embarks on Operation Heartbeat

For immediate release.

Whitireia has embarked on a comprehensive training scheme to ensure that at any time, there is someone around you who knows how to give CPR. Its called Operation Heartbeat.

Each week, three Wellingtonians fall victim to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at home, at work or on the street. Wellington Free Ambulance is running Operation Heartbeat as a new community initiative, designed to make Wellington the leading “sudden cardiac arrest survival city” in the southern hemisphere.

Andrew Dunning from Wellington Free Ambulance has brought the programme to this large Porirua employer. Fast, effective sessions are training cohorts of Whitireia staff in CPR, in 30 minutes. The campus Council room vibrates with a house mix of the Beegees ‘Staying Alive’, which provides the rhythm for CPR. The large staffroom adjacent is speckled in plastic resuscitation dummies.

Whitireia has invested in defibulators, which alongside prompt application of CPR, provide a significant increase in survival rates for those who suffer a heart attack.

Dunning says “providing CPR to a SCA victim can double or even triple their chances of survival”.

Jan Ryan who works in the Human Resources team says “Operation Heartbeat really empowers staff to act, if they are on the spot. 30 minutes of training now could save a life.”

Updates and photos of Operation Heartbeat at Whitireia are being posted to the Whitireia Facebook page.
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