Smythesdale is set to become the first Grampians town trained to be Heart Safe Communities by Ambulance Victoria and the Heart Foundation.
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Community members will be trained in CPR and defibrillator use and encouraged to enrol on the GoodSam app which alerts trained locals if someone suffers a cardiac arrest nearby.
Ambulance Victoria Paramedic Community Support Coordinator Sean Duggan said Smythesdale had been identified as an isolated, at risk town due to its population, distance from the nearest ambulance station and distance from the nearest emergency department.
In cardiac arrest, every minute matters and to give the best chance of survival it is vital that as many Smythesdale residents as possible know CPR and where to find and how to use a defibrillator.
- Sean Duggan
While there are four defibrillators registered in Smythesdale, none are public access and one of the program's other goals is to have at least two or three defibrillators available to community members 24/7 in case of emergency.
The Woady Yaloak Equestrian Centre is believed to be considering buying a defibrillator which would be available for community use.
"In cardiac arrest, every minute matters and to give the best chance of survival it is vital that as many Smythesdale residents as possible know CPR and where to find and how to use a defibrillator," Mr Duggan said.
"When a bystander performs CPR, a person suffering a cardiac arrest is three times more likely to survive, with the survival rate dramatically increasing from one in 10 to seven in 10 if an AED is also used."
The expansion of the Heart Safe Community program to Smythesdale and 16 other Victorian towns including Clunes follows a successful pilot in Tatura in the state's north which resulted in a life being saved on Christmas Day.
Mr Duggan has been in touch with many of Smythesdale's community groups to organise the life-saving training sessions over the coming weeks and months, and there's even a program for primary school aged children who then help train their parents.
"The idea is we teach the kids the skills they need, then the parents come in and the kids teach the parents," he said.
"I've made contact with community groups to have education sessions - the rec reserve, emergency services, The Well health centre, the equestrian centre and they are all pretty excited about the roll-out of the program."
With a population of about 1000 in Smythesdale, Mr Duggan hopes to train at least 200 locals in the skills that could save a life.
Mr Duggan said the Heart Safe Community program was important in building community resilience and improving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates for people living and working in Smythesdale.
Community groups around Smythesdale or Clunes can contact Mr Duggan at Ballarat.PCSC@ambulance.vic.gov.au if they want to be involved.
