According to Frank Pangallo, improving public access to defibrillation sometimes requires changing the law.

Frank Pangallo is a Member of Parliament in South Australia. He has introduced legislation that would make it mandatory for AEDs – automated external defibrillators – to be available in all businesses, public buildings and on public transport across the State.

Frank’s AED Bill builds on the voluntary actions of major retailers including Bunnings, Coles, Officeworks and Woolworths, and many other businesses operating in South Australia, to build a more extensive network of public access defibrillators.

If Frank’s Bill succeeds, South Australia will become the first first heart-safe State in Australia – and one of the first in the world.

In this Rapid Response Revival interview, Frank talks about the vision for improving public access to defibrillation, and the need for better AED education.  Frank discusses the challenges facing this legislation, and the health and cost benefits should the Bill succeed.

Heart-safe communities

During the interview, Frank gave Kangaroo Island as an example of a heart-safe community.

According to Frank, the introduction of a public access defibrillator network by Dr Tim Leeuwenburg was instrumental in establishing Australia’s third-largest island as a heart-safe community.  Today, approximately 25 per cent of the island’s 5,000-strong population know CPR – and thanks to their efforts and public defibrillator access, several lives have been saved from sudden cardiac arrest.

Want to know more?

If you’d like to know more about Frank Pangallo’s AED Bill, email him at [email protected].