Meanings
plural Packer whackers
- AustraliacolloquialinformalA portable defibrillator.
2006, Taking heart, The Bulletin, Issues 6502-6509, page not known, Every NSW ambulance now carries the ultimate heart-starter, the Packer Whacker, thanks to a polo field drama and one man′s generosity.
2 more examples
It was no wonder the shipping insustry in Australia was flatlining under the Labor Party. You could not resuscitate the Australian shipping industry with a Packer whacker under Labor.
2006, Australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Representatives, volume 279, page 1312009, Paul Barry, Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?: The James Packer Story, Easyread Super Large 20pt Edition, page 285, On this occasion, however, it was not his portable ‘Packer whacker’, but a device the size of a matchbox implanted in his chest.
Origin
The name came about when Kerry Packer, a wealthy Australian media mogul, was resuscitated with a defibrillator in 1990 in Sydney after suffering a heart attack. After recovering, Packer donated a large sum to the New South Wales Ambulance Service in order to fit all of its ambulances with portable defibrillators.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Packer whacker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Packer%20whacker
“Packer whacker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Packer%20whacker. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Packer whacker,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Packer%20whacker.
Source: Packer whacker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.