Off-duty Pembroke Dock firefighter assists lifeguards with CPR

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On Friday, February 3rd an off-duty Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service firefighter administered lifesaving CPR to a gentleman experiencing a cardiac arrest.

Lee Murray, a Crew Manager at Pembroke Dock Fire Station, was enjoying his regular morning swim at Pembroke Leisure Centre when he noticed some commotion at the side of the swimming pool. On leaving the pool to see what was happening, Lee saw lifeguards assisting a gentleman who had collapsed and was experiencing a cardiac arrest.

Lee immediately took control of the situation and directed lifeguards to retrieve a defibrillator and to call for an ambulance.

In the meantime, Lee administered ‘hands-only CPR’ to the casualty and once the defibrillator arrived, he attached it to the casualty in order to administer a shock.

By the time the ambulance arrived, the patient had regained consciousness.

On Lee’s actions, Pembroke Dock Station Watch Manager, Phil Barry, said:

“𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙚’𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠-𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.

“𝙁𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙇𝙚𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.”

Station Manager, Kevin Hughes, said:

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙇𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚’𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙢𝙖 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨.”

Coincidentally, this incident occurred during the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust’s annual month-long ‘Defibuary’ campaign, which is designed to raise public awareness of the importance of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation.

According the British Heart Foundation, only one in ten people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK, and it can happen to anyone, at any age, so knowing how to do CPR and how to use a defibrillator can improve the chance of survival.

Fiona Maclean, the Trust’s Patient Experience and Community Involvement Manager and Defibuary Lead, said:

“𝙄𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙋𝙍 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡, 𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙘 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙋𝙍, 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 999-𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝘾𝙋𝙍 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮.”

20 Feb 2023