A routine fitness test turned into a lifesaving rescue when two LifeFlight crew members helped save a swimmer who suffered a cardiac arrest at a Toowoomba pool.
Roma-based LifeFlight Aircrew Officer Nick McKee and Flight Paramedic and Rescue Crew Officer Andrew Meakin were undertaking routine fitness testing at Milne Bay Pool, when lifeguards raised the alarm and rushed to get the swimmer out of the water.
“Andrew and the pool lifeguards dragged the man out of the water, and I jumped on the phone to Triple Zero (000),” Nick said.
CPR began immediately, followed by shocks from a defibrillator.
Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedics arrived quickly and worked alongside the lifeguards and Andrew to help the swimmer.
“By the time we got him into the ambulance, he was talking,” Andrew said.
Toowoomba Milne Bay Pool lifeguard Toni said it took a coordinated effort to bring the man back.
“The lifeguard on duty, Jasmin, alerted us to what was happening and was at the swimmer’s side in 45 seconds,” she said.
A team of lifeguards, Nikki, Michelle, Andrew and Nick also jumped into action.
“We thought it was a seizure at first, so we went flying out to get him,” she said.
“I didn’t even realise it was a LifeFlight paramedic in the wetsuit – we just hauled the swimmer over the side of the pool and got oxygen onto him.
“We lifeguards, along with the paramedics and Andrew, performed CPR to bring him back.”
LifeFlight’s free trauma training program, First Minutes Matter, teaches participants how to help in everyday emergencies, such as cardiac events, snakebites, burns, bleeds and much more.
“In medicine, we talk about time being tissue and even a handful of minutes between us getting a call and arriving on scene, can make a really big difference to a person’s outcome,” Andrew said.
“People knowing how to perform good CPR and how to use an AED saves lives.
“The fact there was an AED there on the day and we were able to shock him within a few minutes of his heart not beating, potentially saved this man’s life.”
Nick said the incident reinforced how critical those early moments are.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, and the more knowledge that’s around people providing effective CPR could be the difference between somebody suffering a lifelong brain injury from a lack of oxygen to the brain,” he said.
To book into a free workshop or to find out more, visit www.lifeflight.org.au/first-minutes-matter or email firstminutesmatter@lifeflight.org.au.
