A community AED at Five Rivers Café is now easier to access and ready for use, following an initiative led by the café’s new owner and supported by PowerNet and Hato Hone St John.

The automated external defibrillator (AED) was originally donated to Five Rivers Café by PowerNet in 2018 as part of the company’s longstanding partnership with St John.

Earlier this year, after taking ownership of the café, Emily Todd learned from members of the community that an AED had previously been based there. She tracked down the original unit and discovered its battery and pads needed replacing.

Mrs Todd also saw an opportunity to make the AED more accessible to the wider community by installing it in an external cabinet, rather than having it available only during café opening hours.

She approached PowerNet to see whether it would be willing to help with the cost of getting the AED back into service and making it more accessible.

PowerNet agreed to fund a new external cabinet, along with replacement pads and battery, then worked with St John to arrange Three Steps for Life training for café staff and members of the local community.

The training was delivered at the café earlier this month (13 August), with participants learning practical CPR skills and how to use an AED in an emergency.

PowerNet Communications Manager Hannah McLeod said Mrs Todd’s call had highlighted an opportunity to look more closely at AEDs previously donated by PowerNet and make sure they were still serving the communities they were intended to support.

“Emily had already done the hard work of tracking the AED down and identifying what was needed to make it truly useful for her community again,” Ms McLeod said.

“For us, the obvious next step was to help make that happen, and it made us wonder how the other AEDs we’ve donated over the years are faring, and whether they’re still accessible to the communities they’re in.”

Over the next 12 months, PowerNet will work with Hato Hone St John to review the AEDs they previously donated throughout PowerNet’s networks, checking that the devices are in good working condition and are easily accessible.

Hato Hone St John Southland Community Engagement Coordinator Tracy Kilkelly said it was vital that AEDs were accessible when they were needed most.

“Having an AED is important, but it’s just as important that people can access it quickly and feel confident using it,” she said.

“In a cardiac arrest, every minute matters. Making this AED available to the wider community, alongside providing Three Steps for Life training, helps make sure people are better prepared to act if they’re ever faced with an emergency.”

Mrs Todd said the new lockbox and training had made the AED much more useful for the Five Rivers community.

“Five Rivers is a busy stopping point for locals and people travelling through on their way to or from Fiordland, Queenstown, and Southland, so having the AED outside where it can be accessed at any time just makes sense. It’s also been great having St John come long to train my team and some of our regulars so we can feel more comfortable about what we should do in an emergency.”

The AED is now installed in an external keypad-lock cabinet at Five Rivers Café. If the AED is required in an emergency, people calling 111 will be provided with the key code by the emergency call-taker.