Ironman Guy to share heart-start lesson in Noosa

SEVEN heart attack saves in 16 months is great, but former champion ironman Guy Leech is coming to Noosa next Tuesday to say ‘well done but we could be doing so much better.’

Guy has been spreading his Get Heart Smart campaign, which aims to get defibrillators into everyday people hot spots, ever since a good mate dropped dead from a cardiac arrest while training years back.

He’s just found out one of the defibrillators he supplied was used successfully at Noosa Anytime Fitness to restart the heart of gym user Emily Counter.

A further machine installed at Noosa Boathouse last year saved another life.

“Seven lives saved in 16months – that’s quite amazing,” Guy said.

He said defibrillators needed to be everywhere people frequented, “in small businesses, in homes, with people who have boats, if you work in a factory …”

“What we need to do is get as many out there as possible,” Guy said.

“Seattle over in the States started a community program a few decades ago and if you have a sudden cardiac arrest in the streets of Seattle, you’ve got more than a 60per cent chance of survival because there’s defibs everywhere and people know how to do CPR.

“In Australia the survival rate is 6per cent. That’s a massive difference. I’m not saying we want to do something that hasn’t been done before, Seattle has shown the way.”

Guy said Anytime Fitness was one of the few gyms that actually has defibrillators – “30 per cent of gyms in Australia have them, the rest don’t”.

“There’s not very many defibs out there and we have an enormous amount of people who have electrical issues with their heart every year and most of them die.

“The thing is they don’t die because people don’t care, they don’t die because people don’t do CPR on them … they die because there’s not a defibrillator close.”

Guy said the machines cost about $2000 and were easy to use.

Locals are encouraged to head to Noosa Springs on Tuesday, 5.30pm for a 6pm start, to meet Guy and attend an information session that will include a demonstration of CPR and the use of a defibrillator.

Source: https://www.noosanews.com.au/news/ironman-guy-to-share-heart-start-lesson-in-noosa/3654424/