First Aid Corps

The life of a gym-goer was saved after he collapsed – in a room full of exercising nurses.

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The heart attack victim was working out at a health club in Fife, accompanied by four nurses, three of whom work in the same ward.

Ciara Grealis the Saviour

As soon as the man collapsed, the nurses sprang in to action, keeping him alive using CPR and a defibrillator until an ambulance arrived.

The patient was then transported to the nurses’ own hospital, Queen Margaret, Dunfermline.

A defibrillator donated to the club seven years ago by a heart charity was used during the emergency at Bannatyne’s Health Club at Fife Leisure Park.

The man, who has not been named, is said to be recovering.

Queen Margaret staff nurse Heather Bryson was having a work-out in the gym with ward colleagues Katharine Sharpe and Ciara Grealis when the man collapsed.

Also in the gym at the time was a fourth nurse from the Queen Margaret and another health professional.

Heather said: “We were all in the gym when we saw the commotion and a lot of people around the man.

“It just so happened that he collapsed and there were five of us at the gym at the time. We all took turns doing CPR. There were loads of people there.

“We used the defibrillator. The sweat was stopping the pads from sticking. He got shocked twice and it probably helped. It was the shock that the paramedic gave him that worked and got him breathing again.

“You replay it over in your head. We’ve talked about it all the time to make sure we did everything we could. It was just a big relief when he made it.

“I went to see him in hospital and he’s doing well. He’s a lucky man.”

Katharine said, “It was good that there were a few of us because one person couldn’t have kept it up alone until the ambulance arrived.

Scott Niven, the club’s general manager, said, “Our team of trained first aiders came to the member’s aid quickly and efficiently and were assisted by a group of members including health care professionals who were very supportive in the time before the ambulance arrived.

“I want to thank these members for their efforts.

“This was a perfect example of the community atmosphere at the health club.

“We wish the gentleman well with his recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to the club.”

When the Powers family showed up at Cheatham County Central High School on Jan. 6 to cheer for Harpeth High School senior Anna Powers as she played against the Lady Cubs, they had no idea what was about to transpire.

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Todd Powers’ stepfather, Harvey Latimer, 86, of Ashland City had never seen his granddaughter, Anna, play in a high school game.

Sherri Manners the Saviour

“We were getting ready to take him home, but he got exhausted coming up the stairs,” Todd Powers said.

Thanks to the quick response of registered nurse Sherri Manners, who teaches at CCCHS and was working the ticket table, Latimer was set on a life-saving path.

“I got him to sit down, and said we’d get him a wheelchair to get to the car,” Manners said. “But then I said to call EMS because I didn’t like the way he looked.”

She also quickly alerted Cheatham County constable Fred Biggs, who was working the game to see if any medical personnel were available to help if needed.

“When I came back, he didn’t look good,” she said. “We got him on the floor. I couldn’t find a pulse, and he wasn’t breathing. So, I began to do CPR.”

CCCHS principal Glenna Barrow ran to get the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), which was housed in the school’s cafeteria.

“I ran so fast I could feel my knees start to give out, so I tossed the AED to (Cheatham County EMS director) James (Gupton),” Barrow said.

Manners said that once they got the AED attached to Latimer, it said to resume chest compression.

Latimer was taken to Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, where it was determined that he had the beginnings of pneumonia, as well as some issues with heart rhythm.

He had a pacemaker put in on Jan. 11 and is recuperating at Hillcrest Healthcare Center in Ashland City for two weeks.

“As scary as it was, it turned out to be a good thing because he’s in much better shape afterward,” Powers said. “The ER doctor said his blood pressure had bottomed out. It could have happened anytime. And having the AED on him helped. This was the perfect place for him to get taken care of.”

The Powers family had nothing but praise for how the situation was handled.

Barrows, who had taught both Anna and her older sister, Hannah, when they were students at Pegram Elementary School, was there to comfort Anna.

Thinking back on that day, Manners recalls how everything fell into place.

“I had just signed up earlier in the day to work the ticket table and was told they had enough people, but I decided to stick around just in case I was needed,” she said.

Powers noted that Latimer wasn’t going to come to the game.

“He felt he couldn’t sit that long because of back issues, and so I showed him I had a stadium chair,” he said. “The actions of these people saved his life.”

After everything settling down, Manners said she stepped away briefly to cry.

On Feb. 19, 2011, she performed CPR on her father.

“He was gone,” she said, adding that she lost three family members last year.

Manners teaches six classes in health science occupation, a program designed to provide an introductory overview of the basics. Instruction includes working with an AED trainer kit, which is a slightly smaller version of the actual AED used by each of Cheatham County’s public schools.

As for one of the most often overlooked instructions for those using the AED, Manners has some practical advice.

“You have to remember to turn it on,” she said.

The purchase of a home defibrillator turned out to be a very wise decision made by Coalmont residents Diane and Bob Sterne.

Although the couple had no history of heart problems the purchase was made because Diane worried about how long it would take for medical help to arrive to Coalmont (19 km from Princeton) if either of them should have a heart-related emergency.

On Dec. 30, 2011, while out shoveling snow, Bob Sterne’s heart just stopped.

While letting her dogs out, neighbour Suzie Michaud witnessed Sterne fall down, try to get up and then go down again. She immediately ran inside to get her husband Ray Michaud to help and then called her dad, Maurice Chartrand.

During this time, Diane was on the phone to 911. Within less than a minute, Chartrand and his two sons who were visiting for the holidays — Mike and Shane were on scene and began CPR.

Ray Michaud arrived just as Diane brought out the home defibrillator and together he and Diane hooked it up to Bob. The machine went to work and a shock was given.

“He gasped and then went out again,” said Michaud.

CPR ensued with Mike and Shane again until the defibrillator was ready to proceed. The second shock was given—Bob breathed and his pulse was detected by Shane.

By this time, thanks to the phone call chain of neighbours, Jodi Woodford, Chief of the Tulameen Fire Department, arrived and outfitted Bob with oxygen.

“It was scary there for a while,” said Chartrand, “but once we got him breathing, we knew he’d be okay.”

Due to treacherous road conditions, it took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

“It was awful, said Michaud, “we could hear the sirens from the ambulance for 10 minutes before they got to us. That’s how bad the roads were.”

On Jan. 12, Bob Sterne had surgery to implant a pacemaker/defibrillator. For some unknown reason on Dec. 30, his heart short-circuited and the implant will prevent it from happening again.

According to Diane, the doctors are amazed with Bob’s condition.

“The quick actions of Maurice, Mike and Shane meant that Bob not only lived, but he didn’t suffer any brain damage,” she said.

The defibrillator traveled with Bob to Vancouver, as it stored medical information from his event.

“I would highly recommend this life saving machine to anyone who lives any distance from emergency response,” she added.

The help given to the Sterne’s did not end once Bob was finally loaded into the ambulance. Neighbours took care of their motel, called the Sterne children, took care of their puppy and drove Diane to Penticton.

Diane and Bob Sterne send their deepest and most sincere thanks to their heroes, friends and neighbours, to the doctors and nurses and to God for orchestrating the entire rescue.

“We will never forget you and we will never be able to thank you enough.”

A MELBOURNE woman who was clinically dead for almost 20 minutes was saved by first aid-savvy strangers.

Family of Leanne Jackson

Leanne Jackson collapsed two weeks ago in Scoresby while she was walking the dog with her husband, Victoria Police Inspector and Foundation Training manager Glenn Jackson.

Her heart began quivering, preventing blood from pumping to her body and brain.

“It was like the worst feeling in my life, times 100,” Inspector Jackson told the Herald Sun.

Keeping their dog’s leash secured in one hand, he used his other hand to brace her fall.

A cyclist who pulled over to help then held their dog and called an ambulance.

Another couple stopped and helped with CPR, taking instructions from an emergency operator.

“Nothing was working, she was blue,” Mrs Jackson’s sister-in-law Sue Ulbrick said.

Ambulance Victoria Advanced life support paramedic Patrick Donaldson said Mrs Jackson was clinically dead when they arrived.

“We shocked her four times before her heart started beating again,” Mr Donaldson said.

“We had no idea if she was going to pull through or not,” Mrs Ulbrick said.

Last Friday she was taken out of an induced coma.

“Not only was she alive, but she was walking and talking,” she said.

“By Tuesday she was on Facebook.”

MonashHeart director Professor Ian Meredith said ventricular fibrillation was caused by a chaotic electrical rhythm.

“The CPR actually kept her alive by keeping blood flowing to her brain,” he said.

She now has an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator which acts as a pacemaker and defibrillator.

“Without the help of those people who came to her aid, she wouldn’t be here,” Insp Jackson said.

Insp Jackson is desperate to find those who helped save his wife’s life so he returned to Ferntree Gully Rd and held up a sign saying: “Thank you. She lived.”

A 57-year-old grandfather watching his granddaughter play in a high school basketball game collapsed in the stands Tuesday night, and authorities are crediting the skillful, quick use of an AED in reviving him.

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Richmond-Burton High School athletic trainer Julianne Stewart administered a shock to the Poplar Grove man with an automated external defibrillator – one of four the school has on premises. He had suffered a heart attack and collapsed face forward about 7:15 p.m., just before half time, school and emergency officials said.

“Julianne Stewart had the wherewithal to get the AED and … she delivered a shock to revive the gentleman,” Richmond Township Fire Protection District Chief Rick Gallas said. “By the time we got there, he was breathing and starting to talk.”

A Richmond emergency crew took the man, whose name was not released, to Centegra Hospital – McHenry.

Gallas also credited Belvidere Police Department Deputy Chief Dave Ernst, a father who was in the stands for his daughter’s basketball game, for performing CPR on the man before Stewart came over with the defibrillator.

“Dave determined that [the man] was not breathing; he was turning purple, and did CPR on him,” he said.

Richmond-Burton Principal Tom DuBois said the incident was a bit frightening, but that everyone involved responded appropriately and everyone was happy about the positive outcome.

“His son and daughter-in-law just stopped by to thank us,” DuBois said Wednesday morning. “They were on their way to the hospital to go see him. … He appears to be doing OK.”

Gallas said the quick response should greatly benefit the man’s recovery.

“It just goes to show the value of CPR and the use of an AED in the field,” said Gallas, who added that the fire department will present both Ernst and Stewart with a life safety award.