First aid training saved wife’s life
When Aaron Sole found his wife Melissa unresponsive and gasping for air while feeding their baby, he knew exactly what to do.
The Rolleston truck driver put their 6-month-old daughter, Sophie, away safely in her cot, called 111 and lifted his wife down to the floor.
For a split second, he wondered if she actually needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but the 111 operator told him she would fight him off if she did not need it.
He did compressions to her chests for six minutes straight until a paramedic arrived with a defibrillator.
Sophie was wide awake and calm in her cot. Her bottle was still warm – Melissa’s heart would have stopped shortly before Aaron came home about 10pm after a late shift.
The couple’s two other children, Annabell, 5, and Caleb, 8, were sleeping.
‘‘It was all just perfect timing,’’ Aaron said.
Aaron had been a Red Cross first responder volunteer for a few years and had done CPR training but never used it.
Melissa was 26, healthy and there were no warning signs.
Six weeks on from that night, she was fully recovered but the enormity of what happened had not ‘‘sunk in yet’’.
‘‘There’s no point dwelling on the could’ve been. I’d rather focus on life night now. I’m still here that’s what matters,’’ Melissa said.
The couple shared their story to raise awareness of the importance of CPR as part of Restart a Heart Day today.
‘‘Just do it [a first aid course],’’ Melissa said.
‘‘It’s only a few hours every two years to get a basic certificate and you never know when you might need it.
‘‘Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone. You don’t have to be old.’’
People should also find out where the defibrillators were located in their neighbourhood, Aaron said. There was even an app for that.
St John intensive care paramedic Daniel Ohs was there on the night and said Aaron did everything right.
Ohs defibrillated Melissa and her pulse came back.
About 2000 New Zealanders suffer a cardiac arrest every year. For every minute of cardiac arrest without CPR or defibrillation a patient's chance of survival falls by 10 to 15 per cent. Three out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest get a pulse back after that and 16 per cent survive to hospital discharge.
‘‘That was thanks to the good CPR Aaron was doing,’’ he said.
Firefighters arrived and helped get Melissa to the ambulance safely. She had no sustained brain damage from her cardiac arrest, Ohs said.
It was ‘‘very unusual’’ for such a young person to have a cardiac arrest with no apparent cause.
About 2000 New Zealanders suffer from cardiac arrest every year.
For every minute of cardiac arrest without CPR or defibrillation a patient’s chance of survival falls by 10 to 15 per cent, Ohs said.
It takes a St John ambulance 7 minutes on average to arrive in urban areas and 11 minutes in rural areas.
Three out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest get a pulse back after that and 16 per cent survive to hospital discharge. A staggering 84 per cent die.