Tragic past incidents where a defibrillator could have made a difference are the motivation behind an initiative to install a new defibrillator post in Muri for its community.

Funded by the Mana Tiaki Ngatangiia organisation and the Rarotonga Home Healthcare Services – Toku Nei Ora’anga Ora, the official opening was held on Tuesday at the Juice Bar where the defibrillators are stored in a cabinet.

Tarina Moorfield of the Home Healthcare reminisced on one particular incident where a family were in need of a defibrillator but couldn’t access it on time.

“In one particular incident, the family were thinking, where is our nearest defib, it’s down at Pacific Resort, which is a good 300 metres from here,” Moorfield told Cook Islands News.

“If they had one at this end of Muri, this would have been a lot easier for them, and the outcome could have been different. Not saying it would have saved the person, but it could have changed the outcome.

“Toku Nei Ora’anga Ora is in healthcare, that’s the business that we do, and it just seemed fitting that we would support something like this, and we are advocates for advocating health in the community.”

The installation of the defibrillator, according to Moorfield, fits in with their values and the vision of their business. They will also be offering trainings to upskill people in the community and hopefully have better outcomes for people who need its support in times of emergencies.

Florence Syme-Buchanan of Mana Tiaki Ngatangiia welcomed the initiative and echoed Moorfield’s sentiments on the need to save lives in Muri and Ngatangiia.

“It’s a really marvellous addition to our community, and that it’s available there, and like the MP (Kaka Ama) says, we hope that it’s never necessary to use, but if it is, it’s there, and we have had some unfortunate incidents in our village in which we believe that have we had a defib, the people who have passed would possibly still be with us today,” Syme-Buchanan said.

“And that was kind of like the motivational thing for this, that we know the people who have passed on, they were very dear to us, and perhaps if we’d had one of these, this wouldn’t have happened.

“About eight months ago, Tarina approached our organisation, Mana Tiaki, with this fabulous idea of purchasing a defibrillator which could be installed somewhere in the community that everyone would have easy access to.”

Alongside free training on how to use defibrillators, the two organisations will combine it with some free first aid classes in the community.

The newly installed defibrillator was officially unveiled by the Member of Parliament for Ngatangiia, Tukaka Ama. The event was attended by a few community members and some tourists.

Ama emphasised that there was a need for such kits in the community and is hopeful that this will save lives going forward.