Life savers commended
Thursday, 11 March, 2010
Ambulance operations manager Stuart Clark, Marc Carter, Jason Goodall and Amy Summerfield with their certificates of appreciation.
Three people who were in the 'right place at the right time' have been commended by the East of England Ambulance Service earlier on Wednesday, March 10.
Recreation managers Jason Goodall and Marc Carter who work at Luton's Vauxhall Motors Recreation Club in Gypsy Lane, were alerted to a man who had collapsed whilst playing football on Friday, March 5. When they arrived on the pitch, the seriously ill man was being cared for by an off duty Bedfordshire fire fighter, Amy Summerfield.
The club is fortunate enough to own its very own automated external defibrillator (AED). This was placed on the patient and confirmed the man needed defibrillating, which Amy a trained first aider administered one life saving shock. Both Jason and Mark continued mouth to mouth resuscitation and chest massage until the arrival of duty ambulance operations manager Stuart Clark.
Stuart said: "When I arrived, all three had treated the casualty and placed him in the recovery position. He was unconscious and in a critical condition. My colleagues and I stabilised him further and rushed him to an awaiting medical team at the Luton & Dunstable Hospital."
Stuart made a special journey to meet up with the three heroes and personally thank them, he said: "Amy, Jason and Mark can honestly say they have saved someone's life. If it was not for their prompt actions on Friday night, this could have easily turned in to a tragedy. They all thoroughly deserve their certificates of appreciation form our service, well done to you all."
Jon Reep, general manager for the recreation club said: "I am very proud indeed of Jason and Mark, and the assistance of Amy who was playing football at the time. Statistics state that leisure facilities such as Vauxhall Recreation club can expect at least one fatality every 5 years on average. This incident underlines how important it was to have the right equipment and just as importantly the need to keep staff up to date with their training."
As of Wednesday, March 10, the 45 year old man is making an excellent recovery and is doing really well in hospital.
