There’s nothing like a real life scenario to test out your first aid skills – our students and First Aid Trainer got exactly that on Thursday 29th October 2015 during a standard First Aid and CPR Training Course at First Aid Accident and Emergency’s Varsity Lakes headquarters.
Forty-six year old sailing club volunteer Peter Cary was one of the 20 attendees of the FAAE First Aid course when suddenly he started displaying some typical symptoms of a heart attack. Ironically, this happened during a role-play session in the CPR Course where students were practicing their newly acquired First Aid skills on each other. Our qualified First Aid trainer Wendy Sullivan initially thought Mr Cary was merely getting into character until the symptoms started to get more reactive and it became apparent that the class had a real situation on their hands that required immediate medical attention.
Wendy immediately stepped up, using all of her First Aid training skills, and went through the steps of checking Mr Cary’s breathing and response. At this stage Mr Cary was completely unresponsive and in full cardiac arrest. Wendy began CPR and instructed the students to notify the administration team to call 000. Another student was sent to retrieve a defibrillator, which was then administered by the partially trained students while Wendy continued with the CPR.
The team worked together for a total of 8 min and 24 seconds, administering CPR and reviving Mr Cary with our HeartSine 360p defibrillator prior to the ambulance arriving. Peter was admitted to Allamanda Hospital on the Gold Coast where he is making a full recovery. First Aid Accident and Emergency director, Scott Whimpey, has praised his team and the students for the successful resuscitation and a great outcome.
“Our students have had a real life emergency, we aheve now proved that our Defibrillators and training SAVE LIVES.” – Scott Whimpey
While this was an intense time for everyone involved, it was a valuable lesson to the students, Mr Cary and all of our team at First Aid Accident and Emergency that a heart attack can occur very fast and how vital a quick response is. Approximately one person suffers a heart attack every 12 minutes in Australia with an estimated 24 people a day not surviving.
These statics reiterate how valuable and necessary having up-to-date First Aid training is. Our First Aid courses at First Aid Accident Emergency cover all aspects of First Aid training starting from an introduction to First Aid and CPR through to Advanced Resuscitation. If you would are interested in attending a First Aid course, contact our head office today.
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