Training tutor leaves classroom and saves life

St John Media Release 27 September 2007

St John First Aid Training tutor leaves classroom and saves man's life

When St John First Aid Training tutor Paul Fowles started teaching his class on the first day of a two-day St John Workplace First Aid course, little did he know that the life-saving CPR technique he would be demonstrating that morning would be used in real life very soon.

Paul was about to start teaching CPR to his class when they were interrupted by a member of the public who rushed into the building shouting for help.

Paul raced outside and across the road to find a man collapsed on the pavement, where bystanders had placed him in the recovery position. Paul established that the man was not breathing and was in cardiac arrest so he immediately started CPR.

He sent a bystander across to the nearby Fire Station to collect an Automated External Defibrillator which he knew was inside the building. When this arrived, Paul used it to 'shock' the man's heart into a normal rhythm.

Paul said it was an extremely satisfying result as the man was breathing on his own and had a pulse by the time he was transferred into a St John emergency ambulance for transport to hospital.

Paul said the Automated External Defibrillator is an easy piece of equipment to use, even for members of the public. It is a fool-proof version of the defibrillators in ambulances, designed for anyone to use. It provides a safe electrical shock through the chest to 'restart' the heart when the patient's condition requires this. Automated External Defibrillators diagnose the patient's condition and will only allow a shock to be delivered if it is needed.

Paul is a volunteer St John Ambulance Officer in Palmerston North as well as a St John First Aid Training tutor. He is keen to emphasise that everyone needs life saving skills. "You never know when something like this is going to happen and you may be the only one around to help," Paul says.

For further inquiries, please contact in the first instance:
Marchelle Silk, Communications and Promotions Coordinator, phone: 06 355 7792, mobile 027 549 9568, email Marchelle.Silk@stjohn.org.nz

Background

* In New Zealand, there are about 3,000 cardiac arrests a year and only 9 out of every 100 survive. Most cardiac arrests happen at home, emphasising the importance of every home having a trained first aider proficient in CPR.

* Our research shows that people who do a St John First Aid Training course take their CPR training resource kits home and share with friends, family, colleagues and others - teaching others how to do CPR.

* St John trains 50,000 members of the public every year. Our research shows that each person shares the CPR skills they have learned with an average of 3.5 people each - meaning we are reaching 175,000 people a year. This is building community resilience in an amazing way.

* For more information about St John First Aid Training courses go to www.stjohn.org.nz or telephone 0800 ST JOHN (0800 785 646).

ENDS

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