Quick response helps save lives
Heart attack survivor Philip Martin says he owes his life to work mate Leonard Morrison.
Martin, a maintenance worker for Centre City, is talking about the day he suffered a cardiac arrest three years back when Morrison happened to be the ‘‘right person in the right place at the right time’’.
The 62-year-old, who underwent double bypass surgery six months earlier, cycled to work that morning and parked his pushbike in the workshop.
‘‘I’ve had to rely on others to fill in the blank about what happened next until I woke up in the ICU,’’ Martin said.
Usually there would have been nobody else around at that time but Morrison, who usually drove to work decided he’d also pushbike that day.
Morrison got quite a shock to discover Martin collapsed just outside the workshop ‘‘slumped over and lifeless’’.
He yelled out for another work colleague to get the centre’s portable defibrillator as he performed CPR.
‘‘My years of first aid training just kicked in. Before I even moved him I called for an ambulance.
‘‘When the ambulance arrived I just broke down. It was like ‘yay’, and they took over.’’
Martin said if it had not been for Morrison’s instant response and good first aid common sense he ’’would not be here today’’.
The Heart Foundation’s national Heart Awareness month runs until July 31. The campaign aims to educate people on the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and the need to act quickly.
In New Plymouth the foundation will be in Centre City spreading the word on July 24 to 26, and July 25 people can pop along to have their blood pressure checked, the Foundation’s Erin Carter said.
Heart disease is New Zealand’s biggest killer, claiming the lives of more than 6000 people every year.
Many of these deaths were preventable if people could recognise the symptom and immediately dial 111.
A Foundation survey found awareness of symptoms was low, with almost 80 per cent unable to identify all the major signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
Martin’s heartfelt story can be read on the foundation’s website as part of its new initiative, Journeys, which was designed for others to gain strength and hope, Carter said.