Defibrillators have been installed in Rutherglen's main street to give peace of mind to the community, as advocacy to improve ambulance response times continues.
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The town's Neighbourhood Watch group was concerned by The Border Mail's reports detailing response times for code one incidents in Indigo Shire.
Committee member Sandie O'Toole raised the idea of purchasing defibrillators for public spaces, and in nine months $7500 was raised.
Ms O'Toole said the three machines were important assets, considering Rutherglen's demographic.
"Plus we have a lot of visitors, and it could be anyone who requires one," she said.
"We are serviced by the ambulance that comes from Corowa and they're very good, but Indigo Shire has the slowest response in the state."
Neighbourhood Watch Rutherglen president Deb Stefanides said there were multiple defibrillators owned by sporting clubs, but the new additions would be more accessible.
"We used to have phone numbers for people involved with the clubs, but if you've got someone lying there ... really the defibrillator should be used within the first three minutes," she said.
"We thought it would be better to have public ones."
Vice-president Ray Nolan said they would be crucial in the unfortunate case a person needed a defibrillator.
"Ambulance Victoria told us if we can get a defibrillator on someone within the first three minutes, it increases survival rates by something like 80 per cent," he said.
"They're spread right down the street so there's one nearby in the event of an emergency.
"The whole idea was to give the residents of Rutherglen peace of mind to know if anything happens, there's a defibrillator close-by.
"Reading those statistics [about ambulance responses] prompted us to start thinking, what can we do?"
In 2018-2019, Ambulance Victoria treated more cardiac arrest patients than ever before, 15 per cent of whom were treated in public places.
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Rutherglen Neighbourhood Watch held community sessions on Tuesday for the public to learn from Ambulance Victoria how to use the equipment, and how to do CPR.
Mr Nolan said he was grateful for their support and also what the community had done to fundraise.
"We had a sausage sizzle at Bunnings in Wodonga, and when Murray Brass Brand folded and distributed their funds, they gave us $2500," he said. "The Indigo Shire also gave us a grant."
