Mark had just had his three-day refresher course when his colleague, Paul, collapsed at work
Paul: I’ve got quite a stressful job as a warehouse supervisor, and I work long hours. I’d had some chest pains for a few days, but being a typical man I just ignored them. I thought it was indigestion so on my way to work I called my wife, Tracey, to ask her to buy me some mints.
I was in our reception area speaking to my colleague Michelle and as I turned to go, I started to say I felt unwell, but I didn’t even finish my sentence before I collapsed.
Mark: I was working in my office when I heard Michelle say that Paul had fallen over. I jumped up to check he was okay and I saw he’d fallen backwards, and his eyes were rolling back in his head.
I told everyone to leave the area immediately and performed some checks on him, checking his breathing and establishing whether he could hear me or not.
He was gurgling and breathing out and I knew he wasn’t in a good way.
I asked Michelle to bring the defibrillator and I began CPR.
I’ve been first aid trained for 25 years but Paul and I had been on the same three-day refresher course a few months earlier. And now here I was using it to save his life. It's a cliché but my training just took over.
In total, I shocked him three times with the defib, continuing CPR for about five or six minutes.
It seemed like I’d been working on him forever. I thought I’d lost him. But then he made a groan and opened his eyes.
He immediately lashed out and tried to kick me as he was confused about what was happening. I put my arms around him and tried to keep him calm. I was worried he’d give himself another heart attack. It took about 40 seconds before he eventually calmed down.
He was taken to hospital by the paramedics, where they found a blockage and had a stent put in his heart.
I’ve helped people who have been in accidents before, but this was my first life or death situation. The emergency responders said that if it hadn’t been for the defibrillator and the CPR, Paul wouldn’t have made it.
It’s been such a life changing situation for both of us, but especially for Paul who’s stopped smoking and started to lose weight.
I’m glad I had the training so I could step up and help him. I know he would have done the same for me.
It’s so important to have first aid training – the more people who are trained the better because there’s more chance of saving a life that way, instead of stepping back and hoping someone else will do it.
