The life-saving technology will soon be in place at Woolworths in the CBD and North Orange as part of a nationwide roll-out, with the supermarket giant installing Automated External Defibrillators at every store for use in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.

Other Central West locations which will also be fitted with the apparatus include Bathurst, Cowra, Dubbo, Forbes, Lithgow, Mudgee, Parkes and Young.

Orange's defibrillators will be in place by the end of June.

The city's two Woolworths staff will have a first aid responder who will be trained in operating the AED, but they are also designed to be used by anyone, with clear step-by-step voice instructions that can guide members of the public through the process.

Symptoms of cardiac arrest include sudden collapse and loss of consciousness and no, or abnormal, breathing.

Each year, 20,000 Australians suffer a cardiac arrest outside a hospital, the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute reported, with a survival rate of around one in 10.

"We know that for every minute without cardio-pulmonary resuscitation or treatment with an AED to restart the heart, your chances of surviving a cardiac arrest go down by 10 per cent," Heart Foundation chief executive officer Adjunct Professor, John Kelly said.

"After 10 minutes without it, there is little chance of survival at all. For people who have a cardiac arrest outside hospital, the survival rate is only 10 per cent."

There has been a renewed emphasis on stocking public venues with defibrillators since Orange City Rugby Union Club coach Steve Hamson's life was saved when two paramedics students and a registered nurse used one to keep him alive when he suffered a heart attack at Pride Park in 2017.

Woolworths managing director Claire Peters said as a business with a presence in more than 1000 communities across the country, they want to do our bit.

"Our first point of action is installing the defibrillators in rural and regional communities where it may be hard for locals to access hospital or medical attention immediately in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest," she said.

"AEDs are designed to be easy to use and will be available to any members of the public."