Concerns continue about the efficacy of defibrillators

August 12, 2026 — 5:00am

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The media mogul Kerry Packer was clinically dead for eight minutes after suffering cardiac arrest at a polo match in 1990. He was so grateful paramedics arrived in time to resuscitate him he donated $2.5 million to NSW Ambulance to install defibrillators in most ambulances.

The people of NSW were grateful too, and coined “Packer whacker” to honour his gift. But, 36 years later, a question hangs over the lifesaving device: the medical regulator has suspended sale of new model defibrillators used across NSW’s ambulance fleet.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration announced late last month that it was suspending two corpuls defibrillators – the model 3 and the model 3T – and it was “likely” there were grounds to cancel the product’s registration. The suspension comes after an investigation by the........

© The Sydney Morning Herald