As October continues to creep by, Zoe Moffatt talks to a cardiac arrest survivor and paramedics, to learn how an app is saving lives and changing the way people respond.
On an overcast day in the Macedon Ranges, nine people gather outside the Gisborne Ambulance Branch. They were all brought together through an unlikely meeting involving a health scare, chance and an app called GoodSAM.
The first time the cohort met was on a gloomy winter’s night on June 21. Damian Fewster had just suffered a cardiac arrest and nearby resident Helen Barker was the first to respond.
“I was in my pajamas, I had just got into bed and [was] scrolling [on my phone] before going to bed,” Helen explains.
“Then this noise went off. I hadn’t heard it before, it’s like a real loud siren.”
Helen’s app GoodSAM had just gone off, altering her that someone nearby had suffered a cardiac arrest and was in need of help.
“It’s probably just 17 years of intensive care unit experience, I was just like ‘I have to go’.
“In my pajamas, I grabbed my coat, grabbed my keys and I saw it was only around the corner. I guess it’s like an instinct to go and help.”
When Helen arrived she saw Damian with his two young kids.
“When I got there and it was just two young boys and Damian, it took me back a bit, especially because they were frightened. I knew by looking at him and years of nursing that I just needed to start CPR.
“I know that every minute counts. When looking at the kids, it sounds silly, but I was like ‘he can’t die on me’.”
While Helen has had the app for years, the experience was one laced with chance and timing.
“This is the first time [the app has] gone off. It won’t send you notifications if you haven’t updated it with your registration- I literally had only done it a couple of weeks before,” Helen said.
This feeling of chance and opportunity was one shared by Damian, who was only staying in Gisborne for six months while the family home in Bullengarook was being renovated.
“I was very lucky for Helen to be there. If that had happened at any other time, there would have been no one around,” Damian said.
“My son Liam, 10, called my wife, Donna, and then she called the ambulance. It was only my two younger sons at home when it happened.”
Damian is back at work now and said he is feeling good, but doesn’t remember the details of the night very well.
“I went to the gym that afternoon and then I had chest pains when I got home, and then I basically just rolled over and that was it, I was out.
“All these other guys sort of know what happened more than I do, I’m just being relayed stories.
“It’s good to meet everyone, since it’s happened I haven’t tried to wipe it from my memory but I’ve just moved on with life.
“I have young kids so there’s no time to really standstill and assess what’s happened.”
Damian’s story is one synonymous to many people around the state, with about 20 Victorians suffering a cardiac arrest each day. However, just one in 10 survive.
Last year there were more cardiac arrests than ever before in Victoria and paramedics responded to 7361 patients, which is a six per cent increase.
GoodSAM has saved more than 55 lives, thanks to more than 12,000 GoodSAM responders across the state.
For Damian, the GoodSAM app and Helen’s quick response made a big difference to his recovery and life.
Paramedic Emily Wilson attended to Damian and said the app probably saved his life.
“Having somebody there doing good CRP five or seven minutes before we got there meant that he had circulation happening in his body and he had oxygen going to his brain,” she said.
“That’s really important.”
Fellow paramedic Jack Sullivan agreed and said it makes an enormous difference to the survival chance.
“Increased survival from GoodSAM is huge,” he said.
“Being first on the scene and able to establish CPR from the get go prior to our arrival is amazing.”
For Helen downloading the app was a no-brainer and one way for her to make a difference.
“I always feel that if you can make a difference in someone’s life [you should], maybe it’s the nurse in me or the innate [desire] to help,” she said.
“I just know that a few minutes can make the difference between Damian now and having severe brain injury or death.”
Anyone over 18 years old, who knows hands-only CPR can become a GoodSAM responder, and accepting an alert is voluntary.
Details: www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/shocktober
