An Edmonton man who suffered a heart attack received CPR. He credits his co-workers for saving his life after rushing to his aid and using a defibrillator to shock his heart before the arrival of the paramedics.
Rapid action saves a life
The 53-year old, Manuel Rodriguez lauds the four employees for their quick thinking and smart actions. Only 5% of Canadians survive a heart attack outside a hospital setting. For every minute that defibrillation is delayed, the chance of survival drops 7-10%.
Shortly after arriving for his first shift at All Weather Windows, Rodriguez suffered a heart attack. He collapsed and turned blue. Four of his co-workers rushed to his aid. They grabbed the company’s emergency bag of medical supplies containing an automated external defibrillator (AED) and called 911.
While two of them waited to escort the ambulance to his location, the other two started to resuscitate him, using the defibrillator to shock his heart twice.
The paramedics continued treatment and transported him to a healthcare facility where he remained for three weeks.
Timely action to save a life
Saving the life of an individual in cardiac arrest is a team effort. Early bystander CPR is the critical skill in the chain of survival since the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest drops drastically for every minute that passes with no activity.
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LEARN MORE
Learn how to help by enrolling in a first aid and CPR course and for more information, check out these sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/first-aid/cpr