General News
29 May, 2023
Paramedics thanked for their life-saving work
Maryborough’s Kevin Lloyd has thanked paramedics for saving his life, after a night with family turned into a life-threatening event last month. Paramedics were called to treat Kevin on April 5 for chest pain that wouldn’t go away after a night...
Maryborough’s Kevin Lloyd has thanked paramedics for saving his life, after a night with family turned into a life-threatening event last month.
Paramedics were called to treat Kevin on April 5 for chest pain that wouldn’t go away after a night of table tennis with his grandson, which quickly turned into a heart attack.
“It was a normal day really, I had been playing table tennis with my grandson and we stopped when my chest was a bit sore,” he said.
“I’ve pulled muscles there in the past and thought that’s all it was. I decided I’d go and have a shower because I was a bit hot and I ended up lying on the bed and that was it, I couldn’t move from there.
“The paramedics kept asking me ‘out of 10, what’s the pain like?’ And I kept telling them, 11.”
Kevin was being taken to the Ballarat Base Hospital by paramedics and was met by a mobile intensive care ambulance (MICA) on the way.
Shortly after, Kevin’s heart stopped and he went into a sudden cardiac arrest.
Paramedics used a defibrillator and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for four minutes on the side of the road near Talbot before they were able to get Kevin’s heart beating in a normal rhythm.
Kevin’s wife Irene, who had called Triple Zero, was following the ambulance on the way to Ballarat.
“You can only imagine how we felt because we knew things were really bad,” she said.
“They did a remarkable job to get him back.”
While there is a history of heart attacks in Kevin’s family, he had never shown any signs that his heart was anything but healthy.
Having had a stent put in, he has since recovered and returned home and, along with family members, met with the two paramedics responsible for saving his life on Sunday — Matt Meade and Aaron Ryan.
“If they hadn’t have done what they did and hadn’t have gotten here when they did, it could have been a very different outcome,” Kevin said.
For Irene, the memory of her life-long partner having a heart attack still doesn’t feel quite real, but she’s certain the efforts paramedics made saved her husband’s life.
“I kept thinking it felt like a dream and once it had all subsided, I kept waking up in the middle of the night wondering if it had really happened,” she said.
“I felt very safe when the paramedics arrived, they have such a calming affect.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by the couple’s daughter, Maree Nalder.
“The way they treated us was amazing and made us feel as though the situation was under control,” she said.
“The care they gave dad, but also mum and my siblings while they were in the emergency room, was above and beyond. We cannot thank them enough.”
Speaking at the family get together on Sunday, paramedic Aaron said being able to bring Kevin back to his family safely is what makes paramedicine worthwhile.
“The fact we could get him home to his family after a cardiac arrest is huge, the reality is that survivability of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is around one in 10.
“Every minute that person isn’t having CPR and defibrillation reduces those chances of survival by around 10 percent.
“This highlights the importance of the chain of survival — early CPR and defibrillation is key.
“Kevin is such an important part of the family and to have him back home happy and healthy is the best thing we could have hoped for, it makes it worthwhile for us.”
Sharing his colleague’s sentiments, paramedic Matt said Kevin’s story reinforced the importance of calling Triple Zero early.
“It’s a really good outcome, the time from the onset of pain to us arriving was minimal,” he said.
“I’d say that Irene has really saved Kevin’s life by calling Triple Zero so quickly.”
