Rangitāne Kaiwhakahaere Matua (General Manager) Corey Hebberd and Kaikōkiri Ratonga Mema (Member Services Coordinator) Taylah MacDonald pictured with the new community defibrillator at Rangitāne House in Blenheim.

Rangitāne installs three community defibrillators to support local resilience and wellbeing

Rangitāne o Wairau has installed three community defibrillators in the Marlborough region, to support the resilience and wellbeing of our community and whānau.

Rangitāne General Manager, Corey Hebberd, says “the health and wellbeing of our community and whānau is a key priority for Rangitāne. The initiative to install community defibrillators will provide an extra resource to improve the chances of patient survival when they suffer a cardiac arrest”

“Findings from previous reports undertaken by St John’s confirm that Māori are disproportionately represented in cardiac arrest statistics and are 20 times more likely to suffer a cardiac arrest than other ethnic groups”

“Providing community defibrillators benefits our entire community”

Around 1,800 people every year are treated for a cardiac arrest that occurs in the community and survival is largely due to the quick actions of bystanders who initiate CPR and use an AED within the first few minutes.

The community defibrillators have been installed at Rangitāne House (2 Main Street, Blenheim), Ūkaipō – the Rangitāne Cultural Centre (1-3 Fell Street, Grovetown) and Tuamātene Marae (2518 State Highway 1, Grovetown).