A potentially life-saving piece of equipment is set to make the coastal area of Omaui a bit safer in the coming years.

A defibrillator is being installed in the small Southland coastal village between Bluff and Invercargill, thanks to funding from ILT Foundation.

Originally intended for use at the Y’s Omaui Camp, merit was seen in installing it roadside, just outside the camp entrance, so residents and visitors can access it if required.

Defibrillators can mean the difference between life and death for someone in cardiac arrest, while an ambulance is on the way. They enable members of the public to perform life-saving actions.

As such, St John and the Y saw an opportunity to team up to deliver a public training, as well as a tour of Omaui Camp for the public.

The training will be held on Saturday, 10 September from 10am to noon. Experts from St John will go over calling 111, starting CPR and using the defibrillator. There will also be a tour of the Omaui Outdoor Camp.

The Y Southland chief executive Vanessa Hughey said the donation of the machine from the ILT Foundation was an important and potentially life-saving move, and it made sense to share that with the wider community.

"We’d like to hope it won’t be needed but, if it is, it’s great to know the Omaui community can access it easily, as well as users of the Omaui Camp," she says.

ILT Foundation manager Lisa-Maree Fleck says the organisation was delighted to expand its defibrillator programme to include Omaui.

"Provision of this AED is to help protect the lives of those members of our community using the camp and the Omaui residents," she says.

“There are now 76 defibrillators at locations throughout Invercargill for our community through our partnership with St John. We are proud of our collaborative partnership with St John, with both entities putting community benefit at the heart of all that we do. St John assist us with assessment of site location suitability, proximity to other defibrillators, agreements and training for site operators."

Anyone interested in attending the training session and camp tour should contact the Y; email [email protected].