Community action remains the key to saving lives from cardiac arrest in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Hato Hone St John and Wellington Free Ambulance are releasing the latest annual Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Report. This report highlights that Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a major public health challenge in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The report shows that for the period 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025 2,466 people were treated for cardiac arrest by ambulance officers across the country – almost seven a day. While 24 percent of patients survived to hospital arrival, only 12 percent survived 30 days after the event. Only six percent received defibrillation before an ambulance arrived.
The report emphasises that improving OHCA survival in New Zealand requires a coordinated, equity-focused strategy centred on universal CPR literacy, automated external defibrillator (AED) training, targeted AED deployment and maintenance of a national registry, strengthened community responder systems and optimisation of cardiac arrest care.
Jon Moores, Deputy Chief Executive – Clinical Services at Hato Hone St John, says improving survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remains a critical priority for the ambulance service, wider health system and communities across Aotearoa.
“Improving cardiac arrest survival is an organisation-wide goal for Hato Hone St John and reflects our commitment to saving lives and improving health outcomes for the communities we serve. Working in close partnership with Wellington Free Ambulance, our funders, other health providers, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and local communities, we are focused on strengthening every link in the chain of survival through our Cardiac Arrest Survival Improvement Strategy. By improving each stage of the chain — from early recognition and CPR, through to rapid defibrillation and advanced clinical care — we can give more New Zealanders the greatest possible chance of surviving cardiac arrest.”
While it is encouraging that 81 percent of cardiac arrest patients receive CPR from a bystander, Mr Moores says building community confidence and capability remains essential.
“Every minute matters. A cardiac emergency doesn’t start with an ambulance crew, it starts with the people around us: friends, whānau, colleagues and neighbours.”
We know that early defibrillation by a bystander more than doubles a person’s chance of survival, and CPR is a skill anyone can learn. We want to support more people to feel confident to recognise the signs of cardiac arrest, take action, and ensure that equitable access to training and defibrillators is available across all communities.
“While bystander CPR rates are high, access to publicly available defibrillators (AEDs) remains limited. Increasing the availability of AEDs and the wider development of CPR skills and awareness, remain critical to moving the dial.
“Hato Hone St John is all in. Our community education programme ‘3 Steps for Life’ provides one hour of free CPR and AED training that could help save a life. These are skills every New Zealander should have, because the training you receive today could make all the difference tomorrow.”
The data also highlights persistent equity gaps. Inequities in both cardiac arrest incidence and survival continue for Māori and Pacific peoples, as well as for people living in rural and higher-deprivation communities.
Female patients have lower odds of survival (50 percent) and are approximately 60 percent less likely to receive community defibrillation than male patients.
“There is a strong call to action for us all to consider how we can improve survival outcomes for women, Māori and Pacific peoples. Māori are 1.4 times more likely to suffer cardiac arrest and are facing this risk a decade earlier in life than non-Māori. This reinforces the importance of equitable access to preventative health services, early screening, and community-led heart health initiatives. We also need to ask whether we are doing all we can to normalise CPR and defibrillation for women and busting some myths about when and how to do CPR,” says Hato Hone St John Clinical Evaluation, Research and Insights Manager, Dr Sarah Maessen.
Dr Erica Douglass, Executive Medical Director at Wellington Free Ambulance, says WFA continues to be deeply committed to training people across its region in CPR and how to use an AED through The Lloyd Morrison Foundation Heartbeat CPR Training programme.
“Last year close to 10,000 people across Greater Wellington and Wairarapa learnt this lifesaving skill – this training is free of charge thanks to cornerstone partner Julie Nevett and The Lloyd Morrison Foundation who fund this essential programme,” says Dr Douglass.
“The data in this report shows us the positive impact bystander CPR and AED use has for chances of survival in a sudden cardiac arrest, and we encourage everyone to undertake training, know where their closest AED is and be ready to assist if needed.”
Key OHCA report facts
- 72 percent of cardiac arrests occurred in the home followed by public areas (16 percent) and aged care facilities (4 percent).
- 6 percent received defibrillation by a community responder before ambulance arrival.
- 43 percent of OHCA events were attended by at least one GoodSAM responder.
- 81 percent of witnessed OHCAs received bystander CPR.
- 24 percent survived to hospital arrival.
- 12 percent survived to 30 days post-cardiac arrest
- 70 percent of people treated for an OHCA were male
- 94 percent of cardiac events were co-responded to and attended by Fire and Emergency New Zealand
- Median age of patients: Māori – 59 years; Pacific peoples – 60 years; non-Māori, non-Pacific peoples – 69 years.
Read the full OHCA report here https://www.stjohn.org.nz/news--info/our-performance/clinical-audit-and-research/cardiac-arrest-annual-report/.
To sign up for a full first aid course, visit www.stjohn.org.nz/firstaid.
For information on how to sign up for a 3 Steps for Life session, visit www.stjohn.org.nz/what-we-do/community-programmes/3-steps-for-life/.
To sign up to GoodSAM visit www.stjohn.org.nz/first-aid/lifesaving-apps/.
ENDS
About Hato Hone St John
- Hato Hone St John provides emergency ambulance services to 90 percent of people in New Zealand across 97 percent of the country.
- Hato Hone St John is made up of a mix of full-time paid staff and volunteers.
- Along with the emergency ambulance service, Hato Hone St John operates a significant number of community health programmes and other activities which help build community resilience. They include Waka Ora Health Shuttles, ASB Caring Caller, St John Youth, and St John in Schools.
- Hato Hone St John also delivers event health services, medical alarm services, first aid training, and operates retail stores across the country.
About Wellington Free Ambulance
- Wellington Free Ambulance is the only emergency ambulance service for Greater Wellington and Wairarapa. They provide all services free of charge and operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
- As well as providing emergency ambulance services (54,000 incidents annually), Wellington Free also provides a Patient Transfer Service (46,000 transfers annually).
- The Clinical Communications Centre at Wellington Free Ambulance in Thorndon is one of three in New Zealand, answering emergency 111 calls (245,000 calls annually).
- Wellington Free Ambulance Event Medics provide medical support at events across the region including sporting events, concerts, and festivals.
- Thanks to cornerstone partner Julie Nevett and The Lloyd Morrison Foundation, Wellington Free Ambulance provides vital life-saving CPR training across schools, businesses and community groups free of charge. In the last year, training around 7,000 people aged 5-95.
For further information please contact:
Hato Hone St John media team
PH: 0800 756 334 | E: media@stjohn.org.nz
Other resources: Media Releases | Image Gallery
Wellington Free Ambulance media team
PH: 021 384 571 | E: media@wfa.org.nz