Nurse, Medics & Cops Save Man at Train Station
We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
A 53-year-old North Andover man was sitting near Track 10 in the lobby area of the station at about 7 p.m. when he collapsed, according to a police report. He had suffered a cardiac arrest, said Transit Police Lieutenant Robert Lenehan.
Patricia Rogers and Alex Santos the Saviours
But thankfully Rogers is a nursing student and Santos is a medic in the Army. Also nearby was Candice Kruszkowski, a nurse from Children Hospital. The three raced to save the stranger.
“Somebody said he was going into a seizure and we moved him down to the ground and positioned him and he started turning blue, so we tried to open up an airway, check to see if he had a pulse,” Santos said.
“It happened so quickly, but it was so nice to have other people there with me, just to know there are people around that will help others,” nurse Patricia Rogers said.
“He was turning blue so he had no air going into him, so we just started CPR. You know it was cool because we had a team going. I started compressions she got the AED going,” Santos said.
Two transit police officers noticed the commotion. One ran to retrieve one of the newly installed automated external defibrillator devices, which deliver electrical shocks to revive victims of cardiac arrest. The good Samaritans continued CPR and used the defibrillator until an ambulance arrived, Lenehan said.
“It was a total team thing from the start all the way until EMS got there. And EMS did their thing and the transition was smooth,” Santos said.
“I kept seeing his wedding ring, so I knew somebody was out there. He has family and someone loves this man and was expecting him to come home,” Rogers said.
The man was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was listed in good condition on Thursday.
Lifeline AEDs Deployed on Major Train Network
We will be reporting on major AED deployments around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
Marlene Allen stood off to the side today at South Station as transportation officials described a new program that will place automated external defibrillators on 84 MBTA commuter rail trains. Her husband, Dr. James R. Allen, died in 2002 after suffering a heart attack on a train that lacked a defibrillator, a device used to revive cardiac arrest victims.
“I’m just pleased this day has come,” Allen said after the press conference. “It’s unfortunate that it takes a death to make this kind of change.”
When Allen’s husband was stricken, the conductor stopped at three stations over 20 minutes, but did not promptly summon medical help.
“He paid a dear price, but I’m so glad they’re here today,” his wife said today.
The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. is also giving conductors and assistant conductors four hours of training in CPR and defibrillators use on adults and children. To date, 140 employees have been trained and 30 defibrillators have been installed, officials said.
Man Saved in Carpark Lot
We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
An 87-year-old Jonesboro man was in the right place at the right time, and now he will be able to celebrate the holidays with his family and friends.Just before 2 p.m., three days before Thanksgiving, Carlton Look was experiencing chest pains and went to Dr. David Rioux’s medical office, where staff told him to go directly to the emergency room at Down East Community Hospital because Rioux was not in.
Look and his wife, Lenita left the office, and Lenita returned to say that Carlton had passed out.
At about the same time, Washington County Regional Communication Center dispatcher Adam Davis, who also is a part-time deputy, had just come out of the doctor’s office. He was there with his son to see his son’s pediatrician. When Davis went to his vehicle, he saw Look slumped forward in his vehicle.
“At first I didn’t know if he was asleep,” Davis said Monday. “I went to go around the truck, and all kinds of people came running out of the doctor’s office.”
Jill McDonald, a registered nurse, checked Look and found no pulse. She also noted he was not breathing.
McDonald and Theresa Parent, a nurse at the hospital, were able to get Look out of his vehicle and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Physician’s assistant Alf Wakeman and pediatrician Dr. Richard Gibbs joined them.
“I asked if they had an AED [automatic external defibrillator],” Davis said. Farren brought one from the doctor’s office.
Davis told the medical staff that he had recently been recertified in the use of a defibrillator. They told him to set it up, while they continued CPR. It was the first time he had used it on a person, he said.
There was no question that the medical staff knew how to use the defibrillator, but they were busy administering CPR, Mike Hinerman, director of the Washington County Emergency Management Agency, said Monday.
“Adam was free to set the AED up.”
Once the machine was hooked up to Look, its instruments indicated to Davis that the patient needed to be shocked.
One shock by the machine did it, and Look regained a pulse.
“They had a pulse monitor out there; he had an almost normal pulse by that point,” Davis said.
An ambulance took Look to the Machias hospital.
Carlton not only had a pulse, but he was actually talking at the [emergency room] in Machias.
Rossi said she was proud of Davis. “It takes an unselfish person to respond and do this type of thing,” she said.
Boy with Heart Problem is Safe at Home
We will be reporting on what families around the world do to create a safe home environment since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
Lyem Magennis sits next to a box of new kittens in his household while holding a defibrillator
It’s difficult for Lyem Magennis’s family to put into words just how grateful they are to have something that they hope they will never have to use.
Lyem, who began attending Maple Grove Education Centre this school year, has Barth Syndrome. It’s a rare genetic disorder that, among other things, weakens the heart muscle. For the Magennis family this is a frightening prospect because people with Barth Syndrome can suddenly, without warning, go into cardiac arrest.
But there is a device that can shock a heart to restart it. It’s a defibrillator. And while Lyem has had one available to him at school, up until a few months ago he’s never had one at home.
Last spring Kidzact – a local dance production group that raises money for children’s charities through its performances – set out to raise $2,500 to purchase a defibrillator for Lyem. It didn’t take long for the young people to achieve their goal.
The defibrillator is small enough that Lyem can carry it with him in his Children’s Wish Foundation backpack. It goes wherever he goes, like when he visits family and particularly if he’s going to be somewhere for an extended period of time, like the camping trip he took to Keji.
Having a defibrillator at home gives the family peace of mind. That is, as much peace of mind that a family can have living daily with such a situation.
“It’s hard to describe,” says his grandmother. “You can’t say that you are more relaxed, but you are more relaxed.”
“And it’s scary with it, but it’s scarier without it,” says Lyem’s mother Jasmine.
Even now months later, as the family has been living with the comfort of having a defibrillator nearby, Lyem’s grandmother Debra Magennis is still in awe.
“At first he was a little afraid of it,” says Debra Magennis. “I said if we ever have to use it, it will help you, it will save your life. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
Teacher, Student and Neighbour Save Man at Home
We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
Mr. Smith, who lives across the street from the high school, was working in his yard when he suffered a heart attack. “Just got done teaching health when a lady came into my classroom and said, ‘There’s a man that just had a heart attack across the street. Come quick, help.’” said Russell Henrie, the Delta High School football coach.
“Coach Henrie told me to run in and grab the defibrillator out of the office, and I ran and grabbed it,” Hatch, one of his football players said. Hatch ran the life-saving device across the street, just like he was on his way to scoring a touchdown. By then a neighbor had already started CPR, and Henrie started operating the defibrillator. The machine instructed them on how to use it. “I was glad to hear that. You just turn it on, and it tells you what to do,” Henrie said.
The machine found no pulse and advised a shock. After two shocks and more CPR, the ambulance arrived. Mr. Smith was rushed to the hospital and regained consciousness before being airlifted to Provo.
“I’ve taught it a million times, but never had to do it, and I finally got to see it in action, and it works.” Henrie says.
Our First Documented Life Saved by the Lifeline AED
CPR in KPE
On 14th September 2008, one of our training partners responded to a collapsed man on an event in the newly completed Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was commenced first. On their ambulance was the essential automated external defibrillator (AED) that they used on this man.
A total of 3 shocks were given to this man.
The man was described to have turned blue before the device was applied. After the 3rd shock, he slowly turned pink right before their eyes!
Lifeline AED Which Saved Victim
Exact Moment of Life Saved in KPE 092008
The man was then loaded into their ambulance and droved him to the nearby Changi General Hospital. It took them 32 minutes to reach the hospital, a duration that would be certain death for this man if the AED was not used on him.
The AED device had recorded the actual events which unfolded as the rescue was in progress. The reading here is the exact time that this man’s heart was converted from ventricular fibrillation to sinus rhythm. In the next few readings, the rhythm quickened in pace and became more regular. All this occurred while he was transported in our training partner’s ambulance without any infusion or drugs.
The man was subsequently transferred to the National Heart Centre from Changi General Hospital and is currently recovering. We wish him all the best!
This is what we wish to duplicate should any of our family members, friends or neighbours fall victim to such unfortunate incidents. To save our families and friends so that they can continue to be with us.
Lifeline Automated External Defibrillator ( AED )
Defibtech has designed a revolutionary new semi-automatic external defibrillator, from the ground up.
Technologically advanced enough to include all mission critical features necessary to provide the most advanced treatment for Sudden Cardiac Arrest.Yet so simple and unintimidating to use that even non-medical personnel can effectively save lives.
The Lifeline AED was developed by experienced multidisciplinary engineering teams and incorporates state-of-the-art digital signal processing techniques and advanced ECG analysis algorithms.
This enables the device to exceed the American Heart Association performance recommendations, giving the user confidence the correct therapy is being delivered.The Lifeline AED defibrillator uses advanced iphasic technology — including the most studied biphasic shock waveform — and automatically adjusts the shock delivery to the person’s individual needs.
