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More than 9000 people experience an out of hospital cardiac arrest in NSW every year. Cardiac arrest is often unexpected, and for every minute a patient doesn’t get chest compressions, also called Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), their chances of survival fall by 7-10%.

That’s why Surf Life Saving NSW has partnered with GoodSAM, a program that helps save lives by empowering members of the community to respond quickly when someone nearby goes into cardiac arrest.  The GoodSAM program is not an agency response – members who sign up to the program must only accept a GoodSAM alert if they are off duty and no surf lifesaving resources or equipment are to be used when responding to GoodSAM alerts.

People who sign up for the GoodSAM program do not need to be trained in CPR or First Aid – the program is open to anyone who is willing and able to help their neighbour by performing chest compressions can sign up.

The critical success factor is the GoodSAM responder registry – the more people on the register the more lives saved.  If you register; if someone close to you needs help, you are alerted and you then accept to attend and start CPR – it’s that easy to save a life.

GoodSAM is integrated with the NSW Ambulance Triple Zero (000) dispatch system and connects volunteers to patients in the critical first minutes of a cardiac arrest and at the same time, ambulances are dispatched.

As a volunteer, you can choose to accept or decline an alert. You can decline at any time and for any reason – paramedics are always on the way.

If you accept an alert, the app tells you where to find the patient and the location of any nearby Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).

  1. Register as a volunteer 

You’ll need to provide some personal information and read and agree to the GoodSAM Code of Conduct.

  1. Verify your email address

After registering, you’ll get a confirmation email asking you to verify your email address. Check your spam or junk folder if you don’t receive it.

  1. Download the GoodSAM Responder App

Download the GoodSAM Responder app from the Apple or Google Play Store.

  1. Sign in

Once your details are verified (within 72 hours), you will receive another email asking you to sign into the app.

You can check on the progress of your registration by logging into the registration portal.

GoodSAM resources can be found in the following Dropbox Folder.