Quick thinking from a good samaritan has helped save the life of a Cardigan Village man suffering from a cardiac arrest.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
SES operations officer Brad Jew was working from home one afternoon in June, when a notification from the GoodSAM app on his phone alerted him to someone having a heart attack nearby.
Mr Jew immediately dropped what he was doing and raced to the location, only 100m away on his street in Cardigan Village.
When he arrived at the location, he found a young man on the floor, with the man's father administering CPR.
From there, Mr Jew took over, continued compressions and applied a defibrillator he had with him in his work vehicle until paramedics arrived.
"Because the gentleman was in a smaller hallway of the house, we moved him out into the loungeroom where we continued doing CPR as the paramedics were setting up their equipment," he said.
![St John Ambulance Victoria chair Mark Engel with Brad Jew as he receives his award. Picture supplied St John Ambulance Victoria chair Mark Engel with Brad Jew as he receives his award. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/116423175/4e979d71-c2de-421e-90f8-093fd3f60ec2.jpg/r0_0_2048_1365_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Once they got their equipment set up they took over the CPR aspect of it. I continued to help ventilate."
Mr Jew was one of several Victorians honoured at the annual St John First Aid Champions awards, which recognised individuals who have used their first aid skills to save a life.
But for Mr Jew, the real heroes were the paramedics, who stabilised the young man's condition, allowing for a full recovery.
"It was unfortunate that the defibrillator wouldn't initially work, because the gentleman wasn't in a shockable rhythm, he was in a full cardiac arrest," he said.
"The one thing that really saved his life were the paramedics. The medication and the drug they had to get there and kickstart his heart again. It was the big key thing for that.
"I know I helped keep him viable in terms of keeping that blood flowing, and helping him while he could. But without Ambulance Victoria, their training and their skills, the gentleman wouldn't have survived."
Following the "emotionally draining" incident, Mr Jew took the rest of the day off and said he reflected on seeing a man younger than he was suffering from a cardiac arrest.
![Brad Jew at the Melbourne Town Hall on the First Aid Champions award night. Picture supplied Brad Jew at the Melbourne Town Hall on the First Aid Champions award night. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/116423175/dc2ee88b-a985-4d96-a441-254efc04d295.jpg/r0_0_3200_4794_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It was emotionally draining to be honest. My wife and I had been alerted a couple of times in the last six months to similar incidents.
"Unfortunately, those previous two incidents did not have a positive outcome.
"I have been in a lot of traumatic incidents involving road trauma. When you are actually there and doing the CPR, trying to save somebody's life, it is emotionally demanding.
"To get there and see someone in cardiac arrest who is younger than me, I think that makes me think about my lifestyle a little bit, and that I probably don't look after myself the way I probably should.
"I was glad that I was able to help."
The GoodSAM phone app, alerts first aid trained community members to situations requiring resuscitation prior to the ambulances arrival.
According to data from St John Ambulance Australia, seven in 10 Australians have witnessed a medical emergency, yet only one in six say they would be confident in their ability to provide first aid in such a situation.
Mr Jew encouraged anybody with first aid experience to register.
"I think one of my assistant chief officers put it in a great way to me after it had all happened and I had calmed down a little bit," he said.
"He said, 'you should feel proud that someone is going to be able to sit down at the Christmas dinner table this year because of what you have done'."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Sign up to receive The Courier's news alerts straight to your inbox.