First Aid training saves villager
The commitment made by Fulton Hogan Hiways (FHH) to providing compulsory First Aid training for the company’s 465 employees has saved the life of Malevu villager, Ratu Ritova Baleilevuka.
On the morning of August 17, FHH road foreman Meli Kapaiwai was driving with his wife, daughter and son on a weekend’s holiday when, travelling through the village of Malevu on Viti Levu’s Coral Coast, he noticed villagers standing around a man lying on the ground.
Mr Kapawai stopped his vehicle, and went to investigate. He was told that the man on the ground was a villager who was diving offshore when he suffered cramps. He had sunk to the bottom and was then dragged onshore by an 11-year-old boy.
“Following my first aid training, I checked the man’s mouth and found that his tongue had curled into his throat and was blocking his breathing,” he said.
“I cleared his air passage and immediately began applying cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).”
With the help of the villagers and prolonged CPR, Ratu Ritova was revived.
He still had trouble breathing, so Mr Kapawai rushed him to the nearby Sigatoka Hospital. At the hospital, Doctor Sapna Singh, who treated Ratu Ritova, commended Fulton Hogan Hiways for providing the first aid training that saved the Malevu’s villager’s life.