September 22, 2007–INVECARGILL, NZ–Invercargill, New Zealand may have the highest saturation of defibrillators per capita in the world, according to St. John Ambulance, which is working with the Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT) Foundation to make the community as safe as possible.
ILT has contributed more than $186,000 toward buying and installing 50 defibrillators in the Invercargill area, and providing training for 500 people to use the equipment. Places being considered for installation of the equipment included shopping outlets, sports clubs, libraries, swimming pools, entertainment venues and transport hubs.
In New Zealand, 3,800 people each year suffered from a cardiac arrest and 95 percent of victims die.