Harvey’s St John WA branch installs State’s 6000th defibrillator as a thank you to Harvey Church of Christ

Harvey’s St John WA branch hit a heartfelt milestone after installing the State’s 6000th defibrillator in the South West. The life-saving equipment — which is one of 2900 defibrillators in regional WA — was placed at the Harvey Church of Christ last week. The sub-branch decided to donate the system free-of-charge after using the church as a training facility for its volunteers earlier this year. St John Harvey spend 25 years worth of savings SJWA Harvey chair Paul Beech said the milestone came as a welcome surprise as the Harvey sub-branch had already decided to donate the defibrillator as a gesture of goodwill. “We thought the defibrillator would have a big reach within the community, there’s quite a network now within the town of Harvey, but you can never have too many,” he said. Pastor Darryn Windolf said joining St John WA’s Community First Responder program was a fantastic step taken in support of their local community. “It was a pleasure to be registered as the 6000th registered location in WA,” he said. “It is a fantastic feeling knowing that we can help protect our local community in the event of an emergency.” The number of registered defibrillator locations has increased by 1000 in less than a year through the Community First Responder program, with 19 located in the Harvey area. The program aims to improve survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest, which sees 33,000 Australians die each year.