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Man's Plea: AEDs for All Public Venues
5 Jul
Summary
- Campaigner seeks mandated defibrillators in Victorian public venues.
- Cardiac arrest survival rates decrease significantly without early defibrillation.
- Victoria has no legal requirement for public defibrillators except South Australia.
Murray Wight is advocating for legislation to mandate defibrillators in Victorian public venues following a traumatic event at Melbourne's Palais Theatre on March 26, 2025. He witnessed a man collapse and die, with paramedics arriving eight minutes later – a delay Wight believes was critical.
Wight has personally contacted 128 Victorian MPs and all Australian health departments, seeking support for a public defibrillator mandate. His campaign emphasizes that cardiac arrest survival rates drop by 10% for every minute defibrillation is delayed. Victoria currently has no legal requirement for AEDs in public spaces, except for South Australia.
While the Health Minister acknowledges the benefit of public access defibrillators, she points to Victoria's 10,000 registered devices. However, Wight's petition has been approved, offering a new avenue for political pressure.
The Palais Theatre stated it maintains defibrillators with trained staff, but a visit by The Age found no clearly marked public AEDs. The theatre's defibrillators were also not registered in the national registry.
