Local man thanks ambulance crew after surviving cardiac arrest
57 year old Aylesbury resident Kieran Reddington had spent the morning of 7th January tidying up his garden. Experiencing a pain in his chest and thinking he had indigestion Kieran went back indoors and told his wife Teresa that he did not feel very well and was going upstairs to have a lie down. Shortly afterwards his daughter Stephanie and her fiancé Keith arrived for lunch. On answering the door Teresa heard strange noises coming from upstairs and herself and Stephanie raced upstairs to find Kieran on the bed unconscious and having difficulty breathing. Teresa shouted for Keith to dial 999.
An appropriate ambulance response was quickly dispatched and, while this was en route to the scene, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust's (SCAS) Emergency Call Taker Jim Kelly gave instructions to Keith as Stephanie began CPR on her father to the rhythm of Nellie the Elephant. Fortunately Stephanie had received First Aid Training in her job as a teacher and was able to carry on giving her father CPR until SCAS Paramedic Ron Ditchburn, Technician Sam Potter and Emergency Care Assistant Liane Sheppard arrived.
The ambulance crew quickly went to work on Kieran with Liane continuing CPR, Sam doing chest compressions and Ron trying to get a line in to Kieran. The crew shocked Kieran twice and then rushed him into Stoke Mandeville hospital where he was stabilised before the crew conveyed him to John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
Once at the John Radcliffe Hospital the crew watched poorly Kieran having 3 stents inserted to widen a coronary artery. This was an 'in at the deep end' experience for Liane as it was her first week as a frontline crew member!
Kieran has been told that people statistically have only a 7% chance of surviving a cardiac arrest at home. Kieran defied the odds, has made a good recovery, and is now back working on a part time basis and commencing work full time on 10th April.
On Saturday 24 March Kieran and his family met with the ambulance crew who attended him back in January at Stoke Mandeville ambulance station to thank them for the part they played in saving his life and to present a cheque to the ambulance service's charitable fund towards funding the Trust's Community First Responder scheme.
Paramedic Ron Ditchburn said:
'We're happy to see Kieran and his family. To hear that a patient has made a good recovery and to know that you're involved is fantastic.'
Technician Sam Potter added:
'I'm happy the outcome for Kieran is a good one, pleased to meet him under happier circumstances and delighted he'll now have the opportunity to give his daughter Stephanie away next year.'
Kieran Reddington said of his cardiac arrest:
'I remember nothing about being shocked twice or the fight to save my life by my daughter and the ambulance crew. I am very grateful to them and to the staff at Stoke Mandeville and John Radcliffe hospital who have nursed me back to health.
Kieran went on to say how happy he was to see the crew in fact he is happy to be able to see anyone!
SCAS has around 1500 Community First Responders who are trained by the local ambulance service in basic life-saving skills, (including use of an automated external defibrillator. In the year to 31 January 2012 CFRs across the four counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire responded to 11,864 incidents making a significant contribution towards saving lives and improving patient outcomes.
Interested in volunteering as a CFR for SCAS? Then telephone 0800 587 0207 or email cfr@scas.nhs.uk
Published 2 April 2012