Heart attack policeman is reunited with life savers
Friday, 15 February, 2013
(Picture courtesy of Brian Aldrich) - left to right: CFR Sandra Newman, Paul Edington, CFR John Newman and NHS paramedic Nigel Vince.
A grateful policeman has been reunited with the people who saved his life after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Paul Edington, 41, was resuscitated by the five-strong team from St John Ambulance and the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) after he collapsed at home on the evening of 30 December.
Two St John Ambulance Community First Responders (CFRs) and three ambulance service paramedics used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to deliver an electric shock to his heart when he fell unconscious and stopped breathing.
Now recovering at his Epping home, Paul is keen to spread the word about the need for more local people to become Community First Responders so more lives can be saved.
'If they hadn't got to me as quickly as they did and used the defib then I wouldn't be here now. I owe them my life,' says Paul, who enjoyed keeping fit and had no history of heart problems before his collapse.
Several hours before his heart attack, he began experiencing severe aching in both arms but dismissed it as nothing serious. As he was serving a meal to this family that evening, the pains worsened and he began to feel hot and extremely unwell.
He recalls: 'I thought maybe it was the Norovirus. I went outside to get some air and a neighbour took one look at me and dialled 999.'
The neighbour's call meant St John Ambulance CFRs John Newman and his wife Sandra, who live nearby, were at the scene within minutes. They were closely followed by EEAST paramedic Nigel Vince who called his control room to request an ambulance.
By the time Paul suffered a full cardiac arrest, the ambulance and two more EEAST paramedics had arrived. 'I couldn't have been in better hands when I collapsed,' says Paul. 'When I went round to John and Sandra's house to thank them a few days ago, Sandra looked at me as if she'd seen a ghost!'
The Epping CFRs are trained by St John Ambulance to attend emergency calls in the area where they live, work or study. They are dispatched by East of England NHS ambulance control to life or death emergencies in their immediate vicinity and are equipped to provide life saving emergency aid in the first few vital minutes before a paramedic arrives.
John, who is Head of Emergency Operations for St John Ambulance, lives in Epping and established the local CFR group in 2005. It runs in partnership with the EEAST and operates in four teams. As well as Epping it covers Theydon Bois, Coopersale, North Weald, Nazeing, Loughton, Debden and Chigwell.
The scheme has gone from strength to strength in recent years - in January 2013 local CFRs were called out 64 times in the Epping area compared with 29 call-outs over a six-month period in 2005 and 132 call-outs during the whole of 2006.
John volunteers as a local CFR trainer and Sandra is in charge of recruiting Epping residents to join the scheme. She's always on the look-out for new members. Anyone interested in becoming a CFR should contact her on 01992 572545 or email: sandra.newman.610@btinternet.com
John says: 'Paul's case is a perfect example of how we're able to save lives in local communities through great team working between volunteer CFRs and the NHS ambulance service.'
Anyone with two years driving experience with access to a car can become a CFR. No previous experience is required as full training is given. The group meets every fortnight at St Margaret's Hospital to practise and keep up their skills. The next Epping recruit training programme starts on April 27.
Lorna Hayes, EEAST Regional Community Partnership Manager said: 'This proves that getting to the patient quickly and delivering a shock from an AED will no doubt save a life.
'Community responders play a pivotal role and give up their free time to help others. It must be very rewarding for them all knowing they have saved someone's life. It is excellent news that Paul is well on the road to recovery and we wish him well for the future.'
Recent research* by St John Ambulance revealed that only one in six people (16.7%) know even the basic skills that could be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.
And every year, up to 140,000** people die in situations where first aid could have given them a chance to live.
*Survey of 4000 adults by One Poll, August 2012
**Using death registration data from the Office of National Statistics, 2008 (for England and Wales), April 2010.
