On this episode of the Pharmacy View podcast, Scott’s guest is Ironman Champion Guy Leech who will be attending APP2021 on the Gold Coast this year as part of a newly formed Sudden Cardiac Arrest awareness partnership with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and several major Pharmacy Groups.
Originally from Melbourne, Guy lives today on Sydney’s North Shore beaches where he spends a lot of time keeping up his fitness as well as coaching local health and fitness groups. After witnessing the death of a friend at one of these group events due to heart failure, Guy was committed to learning more about how to prevent unnecessary heart-related casualties. His research brought him to the use of lifesaving defibrillators, which he knew were common but not common enough.
Guy asserts that most people (pharmacies included) are hesitant to purchase and install defibrillators because they believe they are either hard to use or expensive which led to his partnership with Stryker Medical and creation of the Heart180 Defibs support business. Guy discusses that the costs of defibs continue to go down as well as being tax deductible for most businesses as a lifesaving device. Guy points out that the technology incorporated in each Defib unit coupled with online training means the use of defibrillators is not as complicated as many would believe as the Defib units talks/coaches you in what to do. Anyone can use a defibrillator.
Guy hopes that partnerships with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and other major Pharmacy groups can help drive the conversation toward placing more defibrillators in each Pharmacy’s local community. Greater access to defibrillators could help to drop Australia’s 100-per-day heart fatality rate.
Topics Covered:
- Wanting to be the next Grant Kenny
- Guy’s time on Australian Survivor
- Checking in on heart health
- How defibrillators actually work
- There is wide misunderstanding about how easy defibrillators are to use
- The support of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia
Key Quotes (Time Stamps):
- “Out of all the shows on television, our whole family loved [Survivor] the most.” (4:20)
- “Knowing what’s going on inside your body is a massive part of dodging a heart-related incident.” (8:15)
- “The youngest guy in the group, a 39-year-old, was the fittest one and had to have two stints put in, so you just don’t know what’s going on inside your body unless you get checked up.” (9:30)
- “If you ring an ambulance, expect one to show up in 15 minutes…your chance of restarting a heart drops by 10% every 90 seconds.” (14:15)
- “Today we lose 100 people a day in Australia to heart-related issues.” (16:20)
- “I’m confident, but I want time to go quicker so we can get them out there to people who need them.” (24:30)
Social Media Clips:
- Guy’s experience with tragedy and journey into defibs (6:00-7:30)
- Why going off to get heart checks is a good idea (7:45-10:15)
- The history of the defib (10:45-12:30)
Connect with Guy:
- Find him on LinkedIn
Other Links Mentioned:
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/heart180-defibs/
- https://heart180.com.au/
- https://www.guild.org.au/resources/business-operations/heart180
- https://uk.heartsine.com/
- https://www.stryker.com/au/en/
Connect with Scott
