Every community would benefit from a Tony Hassed.

As the head of the Tawa Residence Association, Tony contributes a great deal of value and tenacity to the community projects currently on his task list; one of which is the installation of 14 AED signs in and around the main centre of Tawa.

An idea born from a visit to Cambridge in May 2022, Tony saw an AED sign directing the community to the location of the Automated External Defibrillator and said to his wife, “we should do that”.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, initially he put together a list of 27 AEDs located within the Tawa community and promoted the locations to residents via social media. 

Concerned by the lack of AED signage, Tony was introduced to local resident and community board member Rachel Allan, who was happy to assist in any way that she could. Rachel was able to provide professional advice on the design of the signs to ensure they were in keeping with international design standards.

With the agreement of local AED owners, Tony established 14 locations that would benefit from clear signage, directing residence or visitors in Tawa to an AED.

Through the generosity and support of the Lions Club of Tawa and local sign makers, Imagine That, all 14 AED signs are currently in the process of being installed.

Wellington City Council have supported the installation by approving the posts/poles to which the signs are being attached. The convenor of the Regional network of Residents Associations has offered to promote the idea around other residents associations in Wellington.

Currently in Wellington, there are no city council funded signs directing people to AED’s. Instead, residents are reliant on either knowing by seeing AED’s in the community or using the AED Locations app, which is reliant on the AED owner to register their location.

Through Tony’s determination, the Tawa community can now easily identify where to locate an AED in a medical emergency.