AN APP alerting bystanders to people in need of cardiac resuscitation has been turned back on, after it was deactivated during the COVID-19 crisis.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The GoodSAM app alerts responders to the location of the patient and the nearest defibrillator, so they can perform CPR while an ambulance is dispatched.
It comes after cardiac arrest survival rates plummeted 50 per cent during the first three months of COVID-19 across the state.
The app was operating on a restricted basis, due to the pandemic.
Ambulance Victoria executive director of clinical operations Mick Stephenson said at the start of the pandemic little was known about the effect of performing CPR in the community, in the presence of COVID-19.
But Associate Professor Stephenson said international research now showed it was safe to perform CPR, without rescue breaths.
He said the restrictions on the GoodSAM app had not materially affected cardiac arrest survival rates, which were due to multiple factors.
The app will be turned back on again to all responders in regional Victoria on Friday.
In an emergency call Triple Zero (000).
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.