New data also shows paramedics are also responding to cardiac arrests faster than before in an average of 7.7 minutes.

While figures are not broken down into regions, the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry report comes three weeks after ambulance performance statistics showed Ballarat paramedics are among the fastest in the state.

Public use of Automatic External Defibrillators has increased 600 per cent in the past decade with 80 patients treated with an AED in 2016/17 compared to 73 a year earlier.

The state government has delivered almost 900 defibrillators to grassroots sporting clubs, and the life-saving devices are mandatory for Ballarat football clubs. But AEDs are also becoming a vital, popular addition in other social clubs and schools across this city.

Ballarat has been long-dubbed the heart attack capital of the state and the nation’s second-worst region for cardiovascular disease.

Ambulance Victoria’s new report shows the Grampians region had one of the lowest rates of cardiac arrest incidents attended by emergency services in regional Victoria. There were 124 such incidents per 100,000 people in the Grampians last year. The Grampians also had the state’s lowest proportion (38 per cent) of patients needing resuscitation in these cases.

In this time, western Victoria also trialled the Pulsara app, which allowed paramedics to share a patient’s information and observations with emergency room doctors and specialists.

Victorian Health and Ambulance Services Minister Jill Hennessy said Victoria had one of the best cardiac survival rates in the world, but importantly, this meant more lives saved and more patients going home to their loved ones sooner.

“In a cardiac arrest, every second counts. We’re treating more cardiac arrest patients than ever before,” Minister Hennessy said. “The good news is families can have peace of mind that paramedics are also responding faster than ever.”

Ballarat paramedics responded 87.9 per cent of code one emergencies within the 15 minute target from call-outs, clear above the state average of 81 per cent, according to this month’s performance data.

The only faster paramedic responses can be found in inner-Melbourne.

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