Research reveals app improves survival for cardiac arrest patients

By Shepparton News

Jun 2, 2025

Downloading the GoodSAM app can save lives.

In an Australian-first, Ambulance Victoria researchers have confirmed that smartphone-activated volunteer responder programs increase the likelihood of survival for cardiac arrest patients.

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A case study covering 9000 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, conducted by Ambulance Victoria, determined that survival to hospital discharge was 37 per cent more likely when GoodSAM responders arrived before paramedics.

GoodSAM is a free life-saving smartphone app that connects Victorians in cardiac arrest with members of the community who are nearby and willing to start CPR in the critical minutes before paramedics arrive.

Ambulance Victoria paramedic and researcher Belinda Delardes, who led the study, said that patients who experienced cardiac arrest in public did have better survival rates due to increased rates of bystander CPR and defibrillation.

“We know from international research that technology like GoodSAM helps improve survivability, but through this novel research we can demonstrate the tangible impact from GoodSAM responders in Australia for the first time,” she said.

“We want to encourage more people to download this life-saving app, the more density we have in terms of GoodSAM responders, the better outcomes we can achieve for patients.”

For more information and to register with GoodSAM, visit ambulance.vic.gov.au/goodsam