Dulacca community and police work together for defibrillator

So highly regarded was the installation of a public access defibrillator on the outside wall of the hall, beside the Warrego Highway, that the assistant commissioner of police, southern region, Mike Condon attended the event along with other police personnel from Toowoomba.

The machine, which can be used by members of the public by ringing 000 and obtaining a PIN code, was a joint initiative of the Dulacca Pioneers' Memorial Hall & Progress Association and local police officer Shane McGregor.

It was an experience shortly after arriving at the station 30 minutes west of Miles, where he attended a farm accident that required people to undertake CPR for 40 minutes before paramedics arrived, that set Constable McGregor thinking about ways to overcome the tyranny of distance.

Word got around that he was investigating the possibility of grants and he was soon asked to a Progress Association meeting to explain his idea of a defibrillator.

In the end, committee funds were used to buy the heart-starting machine for $3000 plus its secure container, which included a $600 discount from St John's Ambulance, and assistance from the Western Downs Regional Council.

According to Constable McGregor, the machine, which has shears to cut clothing and pads to apply, is very easy to use, with spoken instructions given once activated.

"I went out of my way to make it as fully automatic as possible," he said.

"It's fluorescent yellow so you can see it at night, and it's weatherproof and fixed to the wall.

"I'm proud of the committee for making this happen."

Constable McGregor's area of responsibility stretches west to Yuleba, east to Drillham, north to halfway to Wandoan, and south to below the Condamine Highway.

"It's a big area and I could potentially get to an accident in half the time of paramedics coming from either Miles or Roma," he said. "Statistically speaking, if you have a defibrillator on hand, there's an up to 90 per cent better chance of survival than if CPR alone is used."

Progress Association president Adele Hughes said they were a small group that was interested in "doing" for the benefit of the community and had been glad to have worked on something so beneficial with the local police.

"A good thing is, if people ring 000, even if they don't know it's there, they can get a PIN code and be directed to its location - it's pretty failsafe," she said.

Assistant Commissioner Condon said that it only had to save one life and it had paid for itself.

"We will see how this goes," he said. "It's not something we traditionally get involved in but the community's very proud of it, and the police are on board."

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