For an AED to be effective, you really want to use it within 4-5 minutes of the patient going into Sudden Cardiac Arrest. When Kahurangi Robson from Te Kura o Te Whanau a Apanui School realised their nearest AED was a 20-minute return drive away, she knew she had to enter our monthly Become a Heart Saver AED draw.
“I decided to enter the competition because of our isolation and because our school is surrounded by a tight-knit community made up of many kaumatua and kuia,” she explained.
Kahurangi works as PA to the principal at rural school Te Kura o Te Whanau a Apanui, which is located in Omaio on The East Cape in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. There are 100 students on their roll, all descendants of local iwi Te Whanau a Apanui. Until now, the nearest AED was in Te Kaha, 20km away – too far to be any use in the case of a medical emergency.
“Winning this AED means that our little community will have faster access to an AED and gives our community a little piece of mind that we have this on hand.”
The rural school will keep this AED in their school office, available to anyone in their local community and Te Whanau a Apanui wide.
“I would like to thank Heart Saver NZ for choosing our school for this awesome prize. Na matou te whiwhi. If I could I would enter a hundred times to try and get an AED machine put into all our marae across Te Whanau a Apanui. Thank you again for this great life-saving prize.”
