Fire officials salute CPR instructor’s quick action
What was expected to be a special day for the Wiebes — their daughter was about to give birth to the couple’s seventh grandchild — took a sudden turn when John Wiebe went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the bench during a slow-pitch game at Umea Park in Saskatoon.
Seated farther down the bench was Dave Hume, a 15-year CPR instructor, who started chest compressions.
Hume told another teammate where to find an automated external defibrillator (AED) at another ball diamond in the park, which Hume used.
A little more than two minutes after someone called 911, firefighters arrived and took over life-saving efforts from Hume.
John and his wife Marianne thanked Hume at Fire Hall 1 on Monday morning as the fire department recognized Hume.
“I’m happy to be here, and I would not be except for several miraculous things on Sept. 3 during a slow-pitch ball game,” John said.
It was his first major cardiac incident since contracting Lyme disease 10 years earlier. Doctors implanted a cardio defibrillator device and John’s daughter delivered a baby girl while he was hospitalized. After he was discharged, he met members of the fire crew who helped save him.
“One of my main take-aways from this event is how critical it is to have an AED nearby. More important are the skills of the Cprtrained people like Dave,” he said.
Battalion chief Len Protz noted people can be instructed to use AEDS by a dispatcher over the phone, but it’s still important to understand and know how to perform CPR, and recognize the signs of a cardiac event.
“The Heart and Stroke Foundation also notes that within a period of four to six minutes, irreversible brain damage can happen if somebody is not properly perfused or oxygenated,” Protz said.
The fire department has responded to a growing number of cardiac incidents since 2017, including 311 between January and November this year. Protz said the increase is partly due to an aging and growing population.
When he saw John collapse, he recognized his breathing pattern as a sign of possible cardiac arrest, Hume said.
“I’ve done it ... many thousands of times on mannequins, but I’d never done it on an actual human being. It’s always been one of the things when I teach courses that people ask: ‘Have you actually done this?’ ”
His answer has always been “No, I haven’t, and I hope I never have to,” he said. “It just kind of kicked in and I just did what I learned.”