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news
Billinge News and Booze (via Google Street View).PNGPassers-by use defibrillator to save cyclist's life after he is knocked off bike
Passers-by who rushed to the aid of a cyclist in north west England have been credited with saving his life by using a defibrillator to restart his heart when it stopped after he was knocked off his bike.
The defibrillator had only been installed at Billinge News and Booze in Billinge, midway between St Helens and Wigan, last month, according to local newspaper the St Helens Reporter.
Sub-postmaster, Ashley Williams, told the newspaper that people rushed to the shop after the cyclist, a man believed to be aged in his 50s, was knocked from his bike by a vehicle at around 10.30 on Tuesday morning.
“They ran in saying they needed the defibrillator because someone had stopped breathing,” he said.
“All I saw was the dentist from nearby giving him CPR. He shocked him twice and he started breathing.
“There was a retired doctor who said he has never seen one used before. He said if it hadn’t been there he wouldn’t have made it.”
According to the St Helens Reporter, the dentist who helped the cyclist was Alec Bate.
In a post to a community social media page his partner Deborah Benali, who also works in dentistry, said: “We all do the defibrillator training but it’s so very different when it’s a real-life situation.
“Super-proud of you and all that assisted in helping this poor guy.”
Paramedics treated the cyclist, whose identity is not known, at the scene before taking him to hospital. There was no update on his condition.
A campaign to install two defibrillators in Billinge was led by Derek Garland, who runs the Eagle & Child pub.
He said: “A guy was giving CPR so Ashley has run across with the machine.
“It’s actually re-started his heart. We don’t know his position and he has been taken to hospital but it could be good news.
“This could have saved a life at the end of the day and that means the defibrillator has automatically paid for itself.”
The prompt use of a defibrillator was last year credited with saving the lives of two cyclists who suffered heart attacks on Mont Ventoux in Provence just hours apart.
Several websites in the UK, including HeartSafe, provide maps showing the locations of defibrillators, and it’s worth familiarising yourself with where they are situated in your local area.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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20 comments
Great news, well done to all involved. I'm emergency trained in this and hope to god I never have to use one.
Brilliant devices!
An AED stops the heart when it is in cardiac arrest, so the heart can restart itself with a normal rhythm. This is totally different from a heart attack, which occurs when an artery is blocked. An AED wouldn't work on a heart attack. They are foolproof. Cardiac arrest can be brought on by a sudden shock such as being knocked off your bike.
Regardless, well done to all involved.
The kids nick the defibs round my way ... even from ambulances that are parked up. I am told that there's a black market for everything.
Well done to all involved, but yet another incident where the criminal seemingly has got away scot-free!
Hope he makes a full recovery and the value of such equipment and indeed training people to use them is recognised more (though i think there are idiot proof instrcutions on them)
Echo the first sentiment, but I didn't see anything in the story suggesting the driver (I assume that's who you mean by criminal) fled the scene, or that police won't be charging them.
And why I said seemingly, there is no report of the criminal driver being interviewed by the police or stopped at the scene which would seemingly (without further evidence to suggest otherwise) indicate that has not occured.
It's a good news report about a defib!
Hell no ! You just ain't listnin to what Deputy Shed's saying about that darn convicted criminal. We got ourselves a new courthouse. It's high time we had a hanging !
But BTBS is correct that the article doesn't mention the police attended, doesn't mention that "a 50 year old male was questioned at the scene and let go with a pat on the head " (or whatever), so it seems reasonable to say that the perpetrator (the motorist who knocked this guy off his bike) apparently got away scot-free...
The flip side to that is the article doesn't mention that motorist fled the scene either or that police didn't attend, so its equally reasonable to assume that he/she seemingly didn't leave and that the police seeemingly did attend.
Whether any charges ensue is another matter (and if charges are made, whether they lead to conviction and a sentence that fits) ...
You say potato; I say potato...
Charges were made though...
but on this occasion I believe they lead to the heart beating again.
Doesn't mention the weather conditions or the type of bike.
Good news - defib saved life (probably).
You know that the collision caused the cardiopulmonary arrest? Or did the cardiopulmonary arrest cause the collision?
An automated defibrillator speaks to you with instructions. They are very easy to use and you shouldn't be afraid of them if ever asked to use it - trained or not. The casualty is dead when you begin, so it's difficult for things to get worse.
Well done to the dentists and all those who helped.
Edit: cardiorespiratory arrest, not cardiopulmonary!
Very true!
The motorist struck the cyclist, in what world is that not a criminal offence?
Maybe you need to learn to read sonny because I did not at any point state that the assault on the cyclist caused the heart attack, even if that is likely a consequence of the incident!
No one mentioned a heart attack
This info needs to be more widely known - they're utterly idiot proof because they won't deliver a shock unless they heart needs it. First Aiders have been trying to persuade the company I work for (over 1500 employees) to install one on each floor but they're worried about insurance and the risk assessment. But apparantly its OK because there's one at the Co-op over the road...
With over 1500 people on site your employer is putting lives at risk by not having at least one AED available (and people who know where it is and what to do, of course).
In the First Aid at Work refresher course I attended earlier this month the trainer said that the earlier that shock is given, the better the person’s chance of survival. Perhaps your company's HR goons need to know that, by delaying access to the AED, a colleague (or themselves) could die. She also said that no-one has ever been sued for trying to save a life; any attempt to do so would be thrown out of court.
It's something like 15% drop in survivability for every minute. Many factors at play but if they've been in arrest for more than 9 minutes you're very lucky to get them back, and even luckier to get them back without brain damage.
At a run the Co-op is 45 seconds away plus the time taken to get the device out of the box and ready so the minimum time lost is going to be around 3 minutes - that's not taking into account the initial assessment of the casualty. All in all probably down for 5 minutes before a shock is delivered - hopefully CPR will have been taking place in that time.
Pisses me off because CAs are so often survivable with prompt intervention. Personal investment in it because my Dad almost died from 1 (well, strictly speaking 4). Strangely enough happened in the local Co-op which at the time didn't have a defib, but fortunately had a senior A&E nurse buying her groceries after a shift...