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THE EUROA GAZETTE, Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - Page 1
Incorporating the Nagambie Times and Violet Town Sentinel
AVENEL - EUROA - LONGWOOD - NAGAMBIE - STRATHBOGIE - VIOLET TOWN Wednesday, October 16, 2024
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New role for Euroa CFA Town’s fire brigade the first in Victoria to train for CFA’s new Fire Medical Response program p p g By DARREN CHAITMAN
MAGIC AT MT WOMBAT EUROA’S Julieanne Kubeil snapped captured a stunning Aurora Australis at Mount Wombat on Friday night. PHOTO: Julieanne Kubeil, Facebook
SOME 14 Euroa Fire Brigade members are the first in Victoria training to respond to cardiac arrest incidents through the CFA’s Fire Medical Response (FMR) program. The program was developed with Ambulance Victoria, who trained the group at Euroa Fire Station in a weekend intensive earlier this month, while others in town enjoyed the Euroa Show & Shine. The group will operate in Euroa from November 27 after one more day of CFA-led training on Saturday. Announcing the program in July 2022, the CFA said patient outcomes can be improved in areas where a CFA brigade may be able to reach a patient sooner than an ambulance. Triple zero calls in Euroa will see FMR brigade members dispatched to cardiac arrest incidents simultaneously with ambulances. If paramedics arrive after the CFA, they will take over the patient response with continuing assistance from brigade members if needed. “In some cases, the arrival of a CFA truck may only be two or three minutes earlier, maybe one minute, but that
minute counts,” Ambulance Victoria’s FMR coordinator Max Leonard said. “For every minute that goes by, your chance of survival [in cardiac arrest] decreases by 10 percent. “We need to start CPR as soon as possible. “If that’s bystander CPR by members of the public, that is perfect; that is what we want.” A 2023 Ambulance Victoria report found the Strathbogie Shire has one of the state’s lowest rates of bystander CPR relative to incidents of out-ofhospital cardiac arrest. The report identified the Strathbogie Shire as a “CPR priority area”. The report also revealed rural Victoria has a rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest incidents over 50 percent higher than Melbourne. “CFA have a very wide reach – they’ve got brigades in almost every town of Victoria, and they’ve also got dedicated people willing to respond to an emergency when it happens,” Mr Leonard said. “We hope that programs like this where we can utilise people who are willing and able to co-respond with us, can hopefully get there as soon as possible and provide that life-saving intervention.” ■ Continued page 2