A boy’s quick thinking kept a man alive until the ambulance arrived
A boy’s quick thinking kept a man alive until the ambulance arrived
Pictured: Sharni, Tom, Reve and Hu.
Enjoying Melbourne Cup weekend, a group of families sat around a campfire in Beechworth, regional Victoria until their fun unexpectedly turned into a race to save a life. A local man collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest. To help save him, these families sprang into action. This is their story.
Sharni, the experienced Osteopath
Heading back to the campfire, Sharni heard shouting that a man had collapsed. Without hesitation, she rushed over.
“I jumped straight into CPR while someone else called ‘000’,” she recalled. I seemed to go into autopilot and just kept performing CPR until others got there to help.”
Despite being trained in first aid, this was the first time it had been put in use in an emergency. Sharni’s actions were the first critical steps in the chain of survival.
What happened next kept the man alive until the paramedics arrived.
Reve, the 14-year-old boy
Sharni continued, “unbeknownst to me, my 14-year-old son, Reve, saw what was going on and ran to get a friend’s portable defibrillator - CellAED®.”
Reve shouted, “mum is helping a guy who collapsed and she’s doing CPR, we need Tom’s defibrillator!”
Hu, activates CellAED®
“At first, we thought he was kidding, until we realised, he was serious,” said Hu, another member of the camping group.
Hu grabbed Tom’s CellAED®, which was only 150 m away and sprinted over to Sharni who was performing CPR on the man.
Despite having never seen CellAED® before, Hu confidently activated the device by following the instructions on the label and attached the electrodes to the man’s chest.
“I had never used a CellAED® before, it was incredible. It quickly analysed the condition of the man, and the voice prompts really gave me confidence,” said Hu.
Tom, the ex-Police Officer
By this stage, Tom, the owner of the CellAED® and also trained in first aid, was on the scene assisting Sharni with CPR.
While all this was happening, others had been searching for a public AED on the campgrounds.
After a few minutes the group had located one, but it was locked away in an office. They continued searching and finally found another AED that was accessible and returned as fast as they could.
This was some 10 minutes after Hu had placed CellAED® on the man, which had already guided the group through five shocks and rounds of CPR.
The off-duty paramedic
While searching for a public AED, the group ran into an off-duty paramedic who offered her assistance, removed CellAED® and applied the public AED that was finally found. Thankfully, the man had regained consciousness and no longer in sudden cardiac arrest. No further shocks were delivered.
Emergency Medical Services
When the ambulance arrived, the man was still conscious, no longer requiring defibrillation, and was taken to hospital.
Timeline of events
“After the ambulance departed, the off-duty paramedic told us that if my CellAED® had not been placed on the patient to provide shocks so early on, the patient would have likely passed away, well before the ambulance arrived, which was about twenty minutes after the man had collapsed,” added Tom.
“We all knew about Tom’s CellAED® because he is known as ‘Mr Safety or the Gadget Man’ in our group and he had spruiked the benefits of the device a few times before,” shared Hu.
“It’s a great device, absolutely anybody could use it. I am uncoordinated when it comes to anything mechanical or technical, but I felt confident the whole time because of the voice prompts. I knew I couldn’t do any harm and it did what I expected it to do,” Hu continued.
Sharni, reflecting on her son’s quick thinking, “it’s just so important to actively communicate to your kids and educate them about what to do when something like this happens. I could not have been any prouder of my son. While I was focussing on CPR, he was the one who recalled that Tom had a CellAED®, not me. He clearly thought, ok mum is doing CPR, I need to get Tom’s defibrillator”.
Reve added, “I watched my mum go over to the man who was on the ground and begin CPR. So, I ran back to get the defib. I am so proud I thought to go and grab it, and I am so proud of my mum too.”
Reve’s quick thinking kept the collapsed man alive, until the ambulance arrived later.
Key takeaways
- Having a portable defibrillator, like CellAED®, readily available underscores the need for accessible AEDs in public and private spaces.
- Access to early defibrillation can be the difference between life and death.
- Being prepared for emergencies by undertaking first aid training and owning a personal defibrillator ensured everyone in this situation acted confidently, quickly, and effectively.
- Creating awareness and educating everyone, including children, on how to respond to emergencies played a critical role in keeping the man alive until paramedics arrived.
- Hu's experience with CellAED® highlights how easy-to-use and intuitive the device is, even for individuals without training or a medical background. The voice prompts and straightforward instructions provided the necessary guidance and confidence to act.
- The man made it to hospital, giving his family and loved one’s precious moments with him before he sadly passed away a few weeks later.
Time is everythingTM. Be prepared to help save to save a life from sudden cardiac arrest with CellAED®.
The information shared in this story is based solely on the interviewee’s account and personal experience. We do not have access to any additional details beyond what has been provided. Our thoughts are with those affected by sudden cardiac arrest.