UBC lifeguards praised for saving swimmer
Defi brillator used to save 11- year- old in cardiac arrest
A pair of University of B. C. lifeguards are being hailed as “superstars” for their “spectacular job” saving an 11- year- old swimmer’s life.
Aaron Stryd and Jane Bellett sprang into action Saturday to save the boy, who collapsed after reaching the edge of the pool and went into cardiac arrest. His observant mother screamed for help.
For Bellett, 25, it was the first time in seven years of lifeguarding she’d had to restart a person’s heart, a daunting task made easier by the training she’d received from UBC in using the pool’s automatic external defibrillator ( AED).
Bellett was not even on pool duty at the time of the incident. She was working as a day camp counsellor and just happened to be passing through the pool area on her way to lunch. She saw Stryd, the pool’s only lifeguard on duty that afternoon, attending to the child. Bellett rushed to get the AED — never before used at the pool — when she realized the boy was lifeless.
“The training we get at UBC is so good that I was confident using the AED. I cut off his shirt, dried his skin to make sure the adhesive pads would stick and then pressed the button. It analyzes the rhythm and doesn’t shock the heart unless it needs to. The indication was that his heart was flat [ lined] so it gave a shock and then we started twoperson CPR,” Bellett said.
She and Stryd, her life- saving associate, divided CPR duties; one gave breaths and the other did chest compressions until paramedics arrived at the pool.
The save has garnered high praise from Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, chief of pediatric cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at BC Children’s Hospital where the boy is undergoing treatment.
“This was a tremendous save. They did a spectacular job,” said Gandhi of the “superstar” lifeguards. “In this circumstance, the AED was a life- saving tool and it was great that the right person was there to activate it because it’s not just about the machine, it’s about the human behind it.”
Lloyd Campbell, manager of the UBC aquatic centre, was paged about “the major” while he was at B. C. Children’s Hospital. He left the hospital and on arrival at the pool, he saw two fire trucks, four ambulances and five police cruisers.
“A major means a life threatening incident. We don’t get very many of these. We’ve never had a drowning or a fatality and we have about 70,000 swimmers a year.
“We’re just so happy it all worked out. Dr. Gandhi has promised to introduce us to the wonderful family and the boy’s mom has called and emailed to say thanks. I understand the boy attended our summer camps last summer.”
Bellett has been a lifeguard since she was 18 and while she’s done water rescues of struggling swimmers, Saturday was the first time she’s had to revive someone.
“I’ve never started a heart before. It makes me really happy we have AEDs and that we can trust them when we need them. And it makes me appreciate the training that we get at UBC four times a year so we can be prepared for things like this,” she said.
It’s not known how many defibrillators are installed throughout the Lower Mainland. The City of Vancouver started placing them in various locations in 2009. Since then, 35 device have been put in rinks, pools, the main public library and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
So far, the city’s AEDs have saved at least two lives, at the Aquatic Centre and the Thunderbird Community Centre, said Capt. Gabe Roder of the Vancouver Fire Service.
“We call it the power of 10 per cent. Every minute that CPR is put off, you take away 10 per cent of [ the patient’s] ability to survive. It takes four to five minutes to respond to a call with a fire truck or ambulance, so we’ve already lost 50 per cent of the chance of reviving that patient. That’s why it’s so important to put defibrillators in public places,” Roder said.