CPR saves lives—one first aid trainer’s personal story
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Karen Syndenham, with Chris van der Merwe, receiving a Red Cross Rescuer Award. | |
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She was in Chilliwack, B.C. at an equestrian event that her daughter was participating in.
"I heard someone scream we need first aid, and automatically thought it must be one of my kids," says Syndenham.
But it wasn’t. Chris van der Merwe and his friend Desmond Pattrick were driving home from a salmon fishing trip when van der Merwe slumped over the driver’s wheel. It was a massive heart attack.
Syndenham has been teaching Canadian Red Cross First Aid for more than twenty years, and knew what to do.
"I went into autopilot...Chris was lucky, there was first aid equipment, a nurse and a doctor and we were able to use an automated external defibrillator (AED)," says Syndenham.
She performed CPR on van der Merwe for 18 minutes until paramedics arrived.
"It was a strange feeling, I felt he was there with me the whole time, looking at me, I knew he wasn’t gone," says Syndenham.
She went to the hospital afterwards to check up on him and was surprised to find that he was awake and sitting up in the emergency room.
"When I walked in he said to me I feel like I know you."
They exchanged numbers on that day and have been friends ever since.
"I give him heck now for some of his unhealthy lifestyle choices," says Syndenham, laughing.
November is CPR month, an annual campaign to promote the importance of CPR as a lifesaving skill. According to recent polling by the Red Cross, the majority of Canadians say they would recognize the signs if someone were experiencing a cardiac emergency, but fewer than half say they would be able to do something to help.
Know what to do in an emergency like this one, take a course, and save a life.
