(Naughty by nature o.p.p energy)
You down with CellAED? (Yeah, you know me!)
Who’s down with CellAED? (Every last lady!)
You know that CellAED? (Yeah, you know me!)
Who’s down with CellAED? (All the ladies!)…well, everybody.
Now you’ve got that tune and lyrics stuck in your head we can proceed with the good news.
Every town needs a protector. Someone with the heart capacity to stretch care across the thousands without the need or want for anything, other than the comfort of feeling nestled in the knowledge that the community they live in as a whole, is safe and well looked after.
A man with a true interest in hope for his people Craig Vandenberg and his family has been honoring the mountainous town of Monbulk, Yarra Ranges, with their selfless service for more than 4 generations, and is now championing the spirit in leading Monbulk to fast becoming Australia’s safest town.
Be prepared resonates through the air of life experience as Craig’s urgent hand of warmth extends to the public with a new compact, Australia-made, super simple, and easy-to-use emergency CellAED defibrillators.
Cardiac arrest in Australia can be fatal. Especially if you live in a small town which Australia has in abundance. With a current survival rate of only 8% on a whole, Craig and the rest of Monbulk town refuse fall into the small statistic. They live in a hilly area with no ambulance base close by other than in neighboring towns (Emerald and Lilydale). ‘Hoping’ that an ambulance will come by just at the right time, or even be able to get there in time for your emergency is something that Monbulk residents don’t want to have to leave up to chance anymore.
Minutes really do make all the difference in the event of cardiac arrest. The spokesman for the new CellAED Luke Starr said with enthusiasm, “Using a defibrillator within the first minute of sudden cardiac arrest can potentially bring the chance of survival rate up to 90%,” That’s a Jolly good hike up from a measly 8%.
Mr. Vandenberg, a passionate member of the RSL and long-time voluntary team leader with the CFA, went above and beyond and installed 14 CellAEDs around town to ensure that nobody was ever more than a minute away from life-saving aid. The devices are now installed in the local RSL, Police office, bank, doctors, and shops, Craig even has one permanently snug riding in his car glove box.
“And there’s more coming!” He says wide-eyed with excitement. “I do know of some other organisations that are just waiting for the defibrillators to arrive. But 14 for a population of 3500 is pretty good. They’re distributed evenly throughout the whole town. So you know from one end of Main Street to the other. Also down at the Aquatic Center, the Monbulk pool out to the soccer field, so you know you’re covering a fair, fair amount of square kilometers”
Australia ranks low on people able to perform CPR. The RSL rents their space out free of charge to Rangers Training Solution so they can deliver first aid training and refresher courses at the most accessible cost, and encourages all others to do the same.
Craig describes himself as a man that is always in the wrong place at the right time.
“The first time that I had to perform CPR, I was only a teenager and I’d only seen it on TV. I’d never been taught formal training or anything like that. I saw a guy that was in trouble in the surf and it was out of hours for the lifesaver on a surf beach. So I dragged him back up onto the beach and performed CPR and ever since then, it’s just been something that I’ve started training in with my apprenticeship as a nurseryman. We got involved through the mumble CFA learn first aid, and I’ve just kept it up to date ever since. So, this is over 35 years of actually being involved with first aid.
I’ve helped countless people whether it’s first on the scene, a car accident or I’m not that sort to look the other way and drive around, I’ll stop, get out and make sure that everyone’s looked after. It’s just something that I’ve always done. When you’re in the situation, you just do it. It doesn’t matter.”
Craig is a sure safe guy to be around in the case of emergency but he’s actively distributing the new compact CellAEDs in favor of not leaving anything up to chance.
Traditionally home defibrillators are bulky, ugly, and expensive. This modern defibrillator is almost $3000 at normal price but we caught this site in a sale……….. Still.
And it has to be stored somewhere……
And that’s just the basic set up. if you want the full kit you’re going to need much deeper pockets. These new CellAED look sharp can fit in the palms of your hand and are dramatically lower price at either $500 or if you want to cover yourself right now but don’t have the $500, there is even a monthly payment option so nobody has to go without the option of protection.
A ride in an Australian ambulance can set you back up to $1,000 if you don’t have the correct insurance and you still have to wait for it to arrive. A CellAED bargains you the time of a literal lifetime and Craig insists you remember the phrase of just simply be prepared.
And that’s just the basic set-up. if you want the full kit you’re going to need much deeper pockets. These new CellAEDs look sharp, can fit in the palms of your hand and are dramatically lower price at either $500 or if you want to cover yourself right now but don’t have the $500, there is even a monthly payment option so nobody has to go without the option of protection.
A ride in an Australian ambulance can set you back up to $1,000 if you don’t have the correct insurance and you still have to wait for it to arrive. A CellAED bargains you the time of a literal lifetime and Craig insists you remember the phrase of just simply be prepared.
Another useful tool if you’re out and about or in a new location is to download the recommended Good Sam app. It’s an app for first responders Victoria and it will show all nearby locations for accessible defibrillators. He explains,
“Ambulance Victoria has the data, and when we find a new defibrillator around just in travels and things like that, as a good Sam respondent, you can take a photo of it and upload it immediately to the website and then it’s there for all other Good Sam users to see and find, so the more people that we can have on Good Sam, the better because it just, again, it’s been prepared.”
Craigs’ Grandfather became president of the Monbulk RSL after he returned from world war two, a highly respected veteran and pillar of the community. The RSL, which Craig is now secretary of, is how he first became exposed to the bountiful life that volunteering and serving others has to offer, but also the damage that NOT being prepared in a situation can do.
“All I can say is…..take your opportunities in your own hands. That’s why I travel everywhere with a defibrillator now the small ones are on the market
and why I want to ensure community members are never more than a minute away from a defibrillator, should they go into sudden cardiac arrest.”
Craig continues passionately.
“I’ve spent years volunteering as a team leader at Monbulk Emergency Management
Group and always find me in the wrong place at the right time so have had to use
CPR and now having access to an AED will improve the likelihood of having to save
someone’s life.”
Spokesman Luke Starr said, “We know that most instances of Sudden Cardiac Arrest occur at home, that’s why we have developed an affordable, easy-to-use defibrillator that can be kept at home,”
If you want to have your voice heard in your town, this is how Craig told The Jolly Times how he mightily got his foot through the door.
“It was really just a bit of a personal push. The RSL needed one. And over time Mad Cow (the number one district community growth), they are a bit of a voice for the town. I approached them and said ‘We need a defibrillator’. So we put a grant in with Bendigo Bank with their community funding plan. From their other organisations like the football club, the Netball club, Dr. Dan’s, even the local doctor. They supported it and put one in the police station. Once you get one or two people sort of involved with it. It starts to snowball. There is also the Shire of Yarra Ranges, the local council. They’re putting together off the back of what we do with Monbulk Emergency Management. They’re putting together a program for other towns and communities to follow. You know what we’ve done in our preparedness for, you know, for natural disasters and such.
We are a wider community up here. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Monbulk or whether it’s anywhere else. We all band together and look after each other.”
How does your community rank in safety?
Do you know where your closest defibrillator is?