Keeping hearts beating with GoodSAM responder app
02 Aug 2024
The new GoodSAM app is now available for people to register, enabling Tasmanians to access and alert responders to nearby cardiac arrest events and allows people to publicly register their AEDs.
When a cardiac arrest emergency call is made to Triple Zero (000), the GoodSAM app alerts nearby responders, providing the location of the patient as well as the closest publicly accessible Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
If a responder accepts the alert, they are provided with details of the incident and proceed to the location, collecting an AED along the way if necessary. They begin hands-only CPR and defibrillation prior to ambulance arrival.
GoodSAM has been implemented at Ambulance Victoria, South Australia Ambulance Service, and NSW Ambulance as the global, leading-edge cardiac arrest alerting platform.
The project is part of the 10-year Digital Health Transformation, and the ‘Long-Term Plan for Healthcare in Tasmania 2040’ which outlines the Government’s work on delivering a more connected and accessible health system to meet the needs of all Tasmanians, no matter where they live.
Ambulance Tasmania’s Acting Chief Executive, Michelle Baxter, said that when someone is in cardiac arrest, the intervention by bystanders or those around them can make a lifesaving difference.
“When someone is in cardiac arrest, every minute without CPR or defibrillation decreases their chance of survival by 10 per cent,” Ms Baxter said.
“GoodSAM maintains a register of people (responders) prepared to receive a mobile phone alert if a cardiac arrest occurs near them. The more registered responders and publicly accessible AEDs we have across Tasmania, the greater the chances of
life-saving care being on hand when a cardiac arrest occurs.
“It is important to always remember that if someone is in cardiac arrest, everyone should call Triple Zero (000) immediately and an Ambulance Tasmania call-taker or clinician will help you until the ambulance arrives,” Ms Baxter said.
More information on the GoodSAM app and how to register can be found at: www.health.tas.gov.au/goodSAM
