Lifesavers Rory McKenzie and Kim McArthur, who saved a man’s life yesterday with CPR and a (pictured) portable defibrillator. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
Quick thinking by a Wagga retailer has saved the life of a tradesman who collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest on the job.
Kim McArthur was setting up Wagga’s only bridal boutique Heartland Brides, after success in her first store in Nowra, when one of the painters collapsed.
“I could just tell that he needed an ambulance, so I called one as I like ran over, and his coworker had put him on his side, and I was giving descriptions, but he was not breathing,” Kim said.
“The ambulance lady on the phone told me to commence CPR immediately and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is happening'”.
Kim put the phone on speaker and began CPR for 10 minutes.
“It did not feel panicky. It did not feel physically or mentally draining at all, like, it’s really true what they say, that when you’re in the moment, you just do what you have to do,” Kim said.
“I put that down to having done CPR training and first aid like four or five times over the last 20 years.
“I just automatically did what I had to do, and a man rushed in off the street with a defibrillator.”
That man was Rory McKenzie, who runs First Aid Wagga training courses, and had answered a call for help on the GoodSAM app, a free lifesaving smartphone app that connects locals in cardiac arrest with members of the community who are nearby and willing to start CPR in the critical minutes before paramedics arrive.
The lifesaving portable defibrillator that saved a Wagga tradesman’s life yesterday. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
“I was going to lunch with my wife and just received a text message and it told me to come here,” Rory said.
“I happened to have a defibrillator with me, which is very small, that I keep in the car, and we were able to put it on, and it delivered a shock, and it kept him alive, which was fantastic.”
Kim said having Rory arrive on the scene was key to keeping the man alive.
“He and I worked like we’d been doing this for hundreds of times,” Kim said.
“He cracked the defib, put it into place, I cleared, we shocked him. I recommenced CPR. We cleared again and shocked him, and we continued this until paramedics arrived.”
A staff member from Myer also heeded the call for help and ran up the street to Heartland Brides at 189 Baylis Street to assist.
“All of these things happened and made me realise that the systems work. The ambulance talked me through it, Rory arrived with a defibrillator, the lady from Myer ran up, the paramedics and police arrived, and everything worked the way that it should to save the man’s life,” Kim said.
An ambulance transported the man, 61, to Wagga Base Hospital in a critical condition where he was placed in a coma. Today (13 June), he was taken out of a coma and has regained consciousness.
The emergency caused considerable attention as police and several ambulances responded, with nearby businesses praising Kim’s quick thinking. Rory said there was no doubt that Kim saved the man’s life.
“Absolutely,” Rory said.
“If she didn’t start CPR immediately, the paramedics couldn’t have done their job when they arrived.
“Kim kept his body alive and kept blood pumping to the brain, and the defibrillator showed there was still a shockable rhythm so there was still cardiac output from his heart which was really important.”
Social media has also reacted to the event, with many calling for Kim to receive a bravery award, an accolade she says is unnecessary.
“Oh no, don’t be ridiculous. No way. I was just in the right place at the right time,” Kim said.
“I think, oh my God, these emergency services and first responders that rush to the scene … that is brave because they don’t know what they’re going to and they’re willing to put themselves on the line for any type of disaster or situation.”
Wagga First Aid runs training sessions every Friday. More information is available on its website.
