First Aid to Survive is a 100% New Zealand owned and operated family business, established to increase general public awareness of the importance of an automatic external defibrillator (AED).
Roy and Mary-Ann Shadbolt launched the business in 2006 after contracting a Zoll Medical Distributorship, to promote public access to defibrillators throughout New Zealand.
At that time the mention of the word “defibrillator” mostly drew a blank stare from the majority of people and he realised that the general public were not really aware of what a defibrillator did, why it was necessary or when and how to use one. In addition many people were nervous of being the one to use this piece of life saving equipment. Being a First Aid Tutor Roy felt the need to rectify the situation by educating the public on how important it is to have a defibrillator on hand and how user friendly and non threatening it is to operate, as the saying goes “knowledge is power”. So First Aid to Survive was established with the intention to focus solely on defibrillators, specifically the Zoll AED Plus which is designed for the lay rescuer.
With the growth of First Aid to Survive our son Paul has now join the team and we welcome his expertise in marketing and tutoring into the business. We provide free training on the placement of a unit and offer any on-going training as required. The best feeling is to hear and see the reaction when people understand the importance of a defibrillator and how simple it is to operate. We also maintain a data base that now exceeds 250 AEDs in order to provide prompt service to our clients regarding upgrades, changes to software and notification of due dates for replacement pads and batteries. Our goal is to save more lives from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
The performance of early effective cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which is 30 compressions to 2 breaths plus the application of a defibrillator greatly increases survival from SCA. Therefore the public need to be trained to perform effective CPR and in the use of an AED. Our vision is to have defibrillators as accessible as fire extinguishers. Improving survival from SCA is dependent upon defibrillators reaching victims quickly.
Roy’s interest in saving lives grew during his 40 years as a surf lifesaver and increased when he became a First Aid Tutor for NZ Red Cross and then for Links Training Ltd. When training in the use of a defibrillator was introduced he saw how beneficial this piece of lifesaving equipment would be. His passion is to educate the public in its use and to have as many units as possible easily accessable.
Mary-Ann has had many years experience in office administration and accounting, including working for NZ Red Cross. She also assists Roy with senario’s at various AED demonstrations.
