Trained station staff will now be now be able to administer emergency cardiac treatment as part of a new defibrillator trial beginning today.

Two portable emergency defibrillators have been installed at Central and one each at Wynyard, Town Hall and Strathfield, as part of a new life-saving partnership with St Johns Ambulance.

The Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) devices are light-weight, battery powered and provide simple, verbal and visual instructions to the user that illustrate the correct use of the device in times of emergency.

Each defibrillator has security settings in place which only permit a shock to be administered when the heart rhythm is in fibrillation, restricting improper use of the device.

Approximately 50 staff from the four key CityRail stations have been trained by St Johns Ambulance for the correct application of the devices.

The medical benefits of receiving prompt and correct CPR in emergency situations can be significant. Medical research shows that for every minute a patient does not receive CPR, the patient has a 7-10% less chance of surviving cardiac arrest.

Having defibrillators on site and staff on-hand trained to use them means defibrillation can be administered within five minutes, greatly increasing a person’s chance of survival.

After the three month trial process it is intended to gradually introduce them to major stations across the CityRail network, pending the success of this trial.