As part of their commitment to health and safety, Horizon Energy Group purchased 45 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) from Heart Saver New Zealand Ltd that will be located across the Group’ s national businesses.

As a result of feedback received from the Group’s Health and Safety committees, it was identified that the proximity of AEDs were not within the 3 minute response time. An AED can only improve a person’s chance of survival by up to 90% providing the person has access to an AED within the recommended 3 minutes. This portable medical device can automatically assess a patient’s heart rhythm, judge whether defibrillation is needed and, if required, administer an electric shock through the chest wall to the heart.

• Areas the Group identified where AEDs were required include:
• Main office locations / depots;
• Designated vehicles (potentially working in remote locations); and
• Specific project sites.

Ajay Anand, Horizon Energy Group Chief Executive Officer said that the Group takes health and safety seriously. “We’re extremely proud of our employees’ commitment to improving health and safety for all concerned and this initiative demonstrates that. We always strive to ensure that we have the right tools and processes to support highest levels of health and safety practices in every aspect of our business”.

“By equipping our employees with the necessary tools to better manage their own safety, and that of the community we operate in, signals a new way of thinking about health and safety”, says Mr. Anand.

Unfortunately, the majority of people suffering a sudden cardiac arrest can’t be resuscitated using CPR alone. The longer a person has to wait for an ambulance equipped with an AED to arrive, their lower their rate of survival rate.

Performing first aid in an emergency situation is a scary and often challenging scenario for anyone, but knowing you have an AED with easy to follow instructions available is a massive relief.

Horizon Energy Group encourages the community to identify the closest location to them where an AED is available, and if possible, familiarise themselves with how to operate such equipment. The location details of Horizon Energy’s AED will be loaded onto an accessible app called AED Locations that allows the general public to locate AEDs anywhere in New Zealand.