LIFE-SAVING equipment installed at Crosby Leisure Centre as part of a British Heart Foundation campaign revived a man who suffered a heart attack. A visitor returning to their car after a swim spotted the man lying on the floor and ran for help. Off-duty fireman Joe Steven was about to start a gym session when he heard what had happened. He joined leisure centre duty manager Bob Greenall and lifeguard Chloe Teague and ran to help while an ambulance was called. Lifeguard Chloe, who has been working at Crosby Leisure Centre for four years, said: “I have never seen anyone as bad as that before. “We checked the casualty but found no pulse, he wasn’t breathing and he looked grey, there was no colour in his face at all and he had blood around his head. “Joe and Bob began giving him CPR and I went to get the defibrillator.” Duty manager Bob Greenall, 57, started working at the old Crosby baths in 1980 and is now duty manager, first aid and lifeguard trainer at the leisure centre. He said: “It was a team effort. We are told to use everyone available to us so I was glad Joe was there. “You train for a thousand hours for these 10-minute situations but you hope you never have to use it.” The defibrillator was installed last year as part of a campaign by the British Heart Foundation, backed by Sefton Council and Mersey Regional Ambulance Service. The team used it to shock the man’s heart into beating for itself. Staff say without the defibrillator, which helps dramatically improve survival rates for heart attack victims, the man would have lost his life in the Mariners Road car park. Chloe, 21, said: “Once we used the defibrillator the change was amazing, the colour came back to his face almost immediately. “The last we heard the man was getting better. We have been thanked for what we did but we just hope he makes a good recovery.” Clinical studies indicate the chance of survival for someone who has a heart attack is about 2-8 per cent if they receive CPR from a non-medical person within two minutes. But if a patient receives CPR and automated defibrillation within four minutes, followed by further paramedic help within eight minutes, the chance of survival increases to a staggering 43 per cent. These statistics have driven the British Heart Foundation to lobby for defibrillators to be installed in busy public places, including leisure centres. CPR and rookie lifeguard training for youngsters is available at Crosby Leisure Centre. Ring 932-9080. | 
Article
