Guernsey cardiac arrest survivor underlines importance of defibrillators amid maintenance concerns
A man from Guernsey is stressing the importance of defibrillators after his life was saved by one. Roisin Gauson hears his story
A man from Guernsey who had his life saved by the fast actions of those around him using a defibrillator is calling on people to come forward and help maintain the island's network of devices.
Rick Denton is a 'guardian' which means he now helps to maintain and check the equipment regularly after it helped him during a cardiac arrest.
He was having a coffee at Les Cotlis when he collapsed and does not remember much of what happened.
Rick explains: "I noticed my vision going a little bit fuzzy and the next thing I'm aware of is lying on the floor, shirt undone wondering what on earth had happened."
Rick's life was saved by a nearby defibrillator after a resident knew how to use it but he fears not enough people are trained.
Guernsey has more than 150 devices around the island, which are maintained by volunteers.
Defibrillator Guardian Ellie Smith says: "We have an app that we use so it tells us what to check so we make sure that it's clean, serviceable and hasn't been tampered with or damaged.
"We make sure that everything inside is working so that if it needs to be used at any time, it's ready to go."
Personal Trainer Claire Luvin saved someone's life after they went into cardiac arrest on a squash court.
She says: "I literally just had CPR training about 10 days before, so I knew what I was doing. I stayed calm and then paramedics took over."
Gerry Le Roy from the Cardiac Action Group adds: "It's not just about saving lives, but the quality of those lives and that person's family as well.
"To have somebody who's very badly damaged because nobody resuscitated them soon enough is horrendous, whereas we have four people on our committee who are back doing very high-flying jobs because somebody actually acted immediately."
Rick explains: "It's not just about age or fitness, it's really about the heart itself and its mechanisms so we have to be prepared."
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...