In Aotearoa New Zealand, over 2,000 people suffer an out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest each year — a number that has been rising in recent years.
Around 72 % of cardiac arrests happen at home.
Bystander CPR is provided in about 78–80 % of cases, a critical link in the chain of survival.
Only around 6–10 % of patients receive defibrillation by a community responder before ambulance arrival — meaning too few defibrillators are accessible when seconds matter or people are unsure how or where to get them.
Survival outcomes remain low: about 24 % of people who suffer cardiac arrest make it to hospital, and only around 11 % survive 30 days or more after the event.
Early defibrillation (via AED) and CPR more than double the chance of survival compared with CPR alone.
Without immediate treatment — CPR and defibrillation — survival rates stay very low. There’s a huge gap between what’s possible and what happens now: most arrests occur at home, but most AEDs are in public places. Increasing AED access and training is one of the most effective ways to improve survival chances.
An AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is a portable device that can detect irregular heart rhythms and deliver an electric shock to allow the heart to restore to a normal heartbeat. CPR alone cannot restart the heart — it only keeps oxygen circulating until a defibrillator is available. Having an AED on-site can save lives in minutes that matter most.
Practical Training Solutions Southern provides AEDs tailored for your workplace.
When you purchase an AED, the one-off cost includes:
Staff training in a single, easy session
Annual checks to ensure the unit is working and parts are in good order
Investing in an AED ensures your team is ready to respond confidently in an emergency.
Need an AED for a short-term project, seasonal sports team, or special event? No need to buy — you can hire an AED.
Flexible hire options include:
Weekly, monthly, or 6-month terms
1 or 2-year hire agreements
Bond required for terms less than 1 year
Hiring gives you peace of mind without the long-term commitment.
Want the flexibility of hiring but the security of ownership? Our Rent-to-Buy option lets you:
Hire an AED now with payments counting toward ownership
Spread the cost over an agreed period
Receive full staff training and annual maintenance checks from day one
Perfect for businesses that want immediate protection with a path to ownership.
The GoodSAM app is now available in New Zealand, supported by St John, Wellington Free Ambulance, and the National Cardiac Network. Imagine being off-duty and someone nearby suffers a cardiac arrest. You’re in a position to help — but need to be alerted. Now you can.
GoodSAM is a free app that alerts trained responders when a patient is suspected to be in cardiac arrest nearby. It allows you to provide CPR and use an AED (if available) before emergency services arrive, giving someone a real chance at survival.
Originally developed in the UK, GoodSAM is now used by ambulance services worldwide to improve cardiac arrest outcomes.
Register as a responder on the GoodSAM website and download the app.
If you’re trained in CPR and AED use and are within 1000 metres of a suspected cardiac arrest, you’ll receive an alert on your phone.
The app shows you the incident location and the nearest AEDs.
The more people who sign up, the greater the coverage across New Zealand — and the more lives we can save together.
Ready to make a difference? Sign up as a GoodSAM responder here and be part of a nationwide lifesaving network.
While teaching thousands of people CPR and AED use, founder Gareth Jenkin repeatedly heard the same question: “Where’s the nearest AED?” There were plenty of publicly accessible defibrillators in New Zealand — but they were often worthless in an emergency if no one knew they existed or where they were located.
That’s why the AED Locations app and website were created — to make lifesaving devices easy to find when every second counts.
People have died within 50 metres of an AED simply because no one knew it was there.
Knowing the location of the nearest AED can be the difference between life and death. When an AED is used quickly in a cardiac emergency, survival chances can jump dramatically — by up to around 80 % if applied immediately.
There are now over 9,000 AEDs mapped across New Zealand in the AED Locations database, searchable online or via the free iPhone and Android apps.
You can also add AEDs that aren’t yet listed to help improve coverage and save even more lives.
Download the AED Locations App to quickly find the closest defibrillator when it matters most — whether at work, home, or in the community.
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