Swift work helps man cling to life
Every second is vital after a driver has heart attack
May 25 was the day George Scott was pronounced clinically dead, but the quick-thinking actions of first responders mean the 62-year-old is alive to tell the story.
It was a Saturday morning when Scott jumped in his car at his home on the edges of Kaukapakapa and went to drive to the small village. But he had a heart attack, going into cardiac arrest. His car left the road and crashed through a fence, into a paddock.
Witnesses reported seeing a vehicle being driven erratically, with Scott slumped at the wheel.
Aran Fairley, 36, was a couple of vehicles behind Scott and pulled over when he saw the car plough into the paddock.
“We had to grab some bolt cutters because all the Number 8 wire from the fence had wrapped around the door so we had to cut all that away.
“His car had central locking so we had to smash the window and turn the car off as it was still spinning in the mud, then literally we pulled him out and he was non-responsive, with no pulse, no nothing,” Fairley said.
“I was the only one who knew CPR so I just got to work. I was just thinking ‘keep him alive’.”
Sam Allen, 37, was driving his son to rugby and saw the commotion.
“The first thing I thought was ‘shit, this guy needs some help’ because you can’t be doing that on your own, so I pulled over,” he said.
“I jumped in next to Aran, who was already sorting the airway out, so I started working on George’s chest. He was purple grey and very much on his way out . . .”
It was about 10 minutes before Kaukapakapa Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived and hooked Scott up to an oxygen mask. Then St John Ambulance arrived with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Scott was clinically dead, St John officer Dan Spearing said. “I remember George was very pale and very blue, so he had very little oxygen in his system.
We weren’t convinced we were going to see him come out of that . . . but everything that needed to line up on that day did. Helicopter crew chief Mark Cannell
“But . . . there was a bit of electricity in his heart, so essentially we had something to work with.
“We attached a defibrillator and delivered one shock and reverted George’s heart to a rhythm that was basically compatible with life.”
Volunteer firefighter Alison Constable thought the outlook was grim: “I was quite surprised when the defibrillator advised us to shock.”
Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter took Scott to Auckland Central Hospital, in a critical condition.
Crew chief Mark Cannell said: “We weren’t convinced we were going to see him come out of that . . . but everything that needed to line up on that day did.”
Scott spent days in hospital: “I was out of it so it didn’t affect me, but it frightened the crap out of my wife.”
On the Monday he became conscious and was transferred to North Shore Hospital. He received coronary stents, was put on medication, and was discharged on the Friday.
Five months later, Scott met the 19 emergency service crew and first responders who saved him. On Wednesday, during the reunion at his home, he was moved to tears: “If it weren’t for every one of those people, I wouldn’t be here right now.
“Certainly from my perspective, every second counts, and if it weren’t for Aran and Sam, everyone else there would have been irrelevant.”
Sam Allen said: “To see someone come back like that was just incredible.”