After campaigning for more than four years, Welcome Bay residents Tina Neville and Sonia Anderson are thrilled three automated external defibrillators have been installed in the area.

“I’m very happy because I know that these are going to save somebody’s life, if not many lives,” said Neville.

After a close friend’s life was saved by an AED, Neville personally understands the importance of the easy-to-use small device that gives a safe electric shock to someone having a sudden cardiac arrest.

Following this, the Welcome Bay Zumba instructor asked her friends for money in lieu of presents when she turned 50 and purchased her own AED which is always in her car.

“A lot of people who attend my classes are over 50. Always having an AED on hand means that should anyone have a sudden cardiac arrest, I know I can potentially save a life.”

Neville and Anderson, a nurse at Tauranga Hospital, have been campaigning for publicly available AEDs in the Welcome Bay area because there were disproportionately fewer in the ward compared with other areas in Tauranga.

The friends reached out to Bay Venues to get support to put them outside their locations in the area and, more recently, contacted Welcome Bay Ward Councillor Hautapu Baker, who understood the value of this initiative.

“Tauranga City Council acknowledges the need for publicly available AEDs within the ward and are happy to support this initiative by providing two AEDs for the area - one at the Welcome Bay Community Centre, and the other at the Waipuna Park Pavilion,” explained Baker.

Hato Hone St John Tauranga also donated an AED to Selwyn Ridge School in December 2024.

Bay Venues community centres and halls manager Piers Zajac-Wiggett said in addition to the new council-funded AEDs in Welcome Bay, three new AEDs have been installed by Bay Venues at the Bethlehem Hall, Cliff Road Hall and Elizabeth Street Community and Arts Centre.

“Through working in partnership with council and the community, it’s really pleasing to have such a positive outcome in that we now have six more AEDs available across the city for people to access 24/7,” says Zajac-Wiggett.

Neville and Anderson are exploring further opportunities for AEDs to be available at independent facilities – one each for Maungatapu and Ohauiti, and an additional one in Welcome Bay. They also hope to organise free, basic CPR courses for the community.

“An AED can increase someone’s chance of survival by up to 80% if applied immediately. We need to empower our people through our connections, and teach them basic CPR,” explained Anderson.

“The new AEDs will be located outside the venues, but it’s important to remember that if an AED isn’t available in the immediate vicinity, CPR should be administered.”