Lifeguards honoured for saving man's life

Ambulance crews who attended a man who suffered a cardiac arrest in a swimming pool have presented bravery awards to the lifeguards who helped save the patient’s life by performing CPR and using a defibrillator.

Paramedics Terry Thompson and Amanda Hughes, and Technician David Johnson were called to a man who had suffered a cardiac arrest in the swimming pool at Lammas Leisure Centre on Monday, February 13.

When crews arrived, they found that three lifeguards on duty had got the patient out of the pool, were performing CPR and had already given him two shocks using the leisure centre’s defibrillator.

David Johnson, a technician based in Kings Mill said: “We wanted to thank the staff at the leisure centre for performing such effective CPR and using the defibrillator as it gave the patient the best chance of survival.

“It is effective CPR that saved his life - these guys did all the base work for us.

“By the time we got the patient to hospital he was sat up and talking, which happens about one time in a million.”

Paul Blakemore, manager of Lammas Leisure Centre run by Everyone Active, explained that 19-year-old Regan Hubbard was the lifeguard on duty when a man in the shallow end of the swimming pool suddenly looked unwell.

He said: “He could tell the man was distressed and had gone red in the face, like he was choking.”

Regan, who has worked as a lifeguard for two years, jumped into the pool to rescue the man and by the time he had got him to the side he was in cardiac arrest.

Regan got him onto the poolside, raised the alarm and called 999 while his colleague Jon Thacker began CPR.

He said: “I’ve never had to use the training for real before, but it just kicked in and I didn’t even need to think. I’m proud of what we did now, but it took a few days to sink in.”

Another member of staff grabbed the leisure centre’s defibrillator, and 22-year-old Lorna Renshaw who had just arrived to start her shift dried off the patient’s chest and provided two shocks to the patient.

The team also continued CPR at the direction of the defibrillator.

Ambulance crews provided another two shocks to the patient, continued CPR and took him to Kings Mill Hospital. He is back on his feet and on the road to recovery.

Paul added: “I’ve been working in leisure centres since 1989 and this the first time we have had to use our training, but it all came flooding back.

“When something like this happens, you appreciate just how fantastic defibrillators are. If it wasn’t for the defibrillator then we would be having a very different conversation today.”

Following the emergency, staff at Lammas Leisure Centre have worked with Trevor Middleton from Ashfield District Council and raised £300 for a new defibrillator to be installed in Sutton Lawns in Sutton, to help save more lives in the community.

There are now six defibrillators across Sutton which are available 24/7 and a code to the cabinet will be given when someone calls 999 and needs to access them.

The ambulance service is also urging people to register their local defibrillators to make sure that they can be accessed if someone goes into cardiac arrest.

Anyone can register their defibrillator by emailing [email protected]