A New Brunswick man is crediting bystanders and a portable defibrillator for saving his life following a sudden cardiac arrest.
Mike Oulton had the chance to meet those individuals on Thursday during a recognition event at the same hockey arena where his heart stopped beating for several minutes.
The Riverview man was taking part in a Heart & Stroke New Brunswick hockey fundraiser at Moncton’s Superior Propane Centre in June.
Oulton had just finished the first game and had been sitting in the dressing room for about five minutes when everything went dark.
“The next thing I remember is hearing someone’s voice saying, ‘OK we got him back’ and then looking up and not knowing what had happened,” he said.
Oulton later learned that he had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, which is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating.
Several bystanders jump in to help
Among those who jumped into action was Kurtis Sisk, who happens to be the CEO of Heart & Stroke New Brunswick.
Sisk said he heard a commotion and initially thought it was a hockey fight. He walked over and saw Oulton, who appeared to be having a seizure.
“I immediately recognized that being a sign of sudden cardiac arrest, so I said to call 911 and ran as fast as I could to get an AED[automated external defibrillator] in the arena,” he said.
As Sisk was getting ready to place the pads on Oulton’s chest, two off-duty paramedics participating in the tournament — Carole Gautreau and Isabelle Babineau — arrived in the dressing room.
CPR was performed and the AED was used to deliver two shocks, successfully reviving Oulton. He was transported to The Moncton Hospital and later to the NB Heart Centre at the Saint John Regional Hospital.
Dozens of lives saved thanks to AEDs
Sisk, whose foundation aims to bring AEDs to more public places, said Oulton’s story is a prime example of how portable defibrillators save lives.
He noted that about 90 per cent of people who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital do not survive.
However, using an AED in combination with CPR can double a person’s chance of survival, according to the foundation.
“To date, we have placed more than 575 AEDs throughout New Brunswick, saving over 25 lives,” said Sisk, adding that includes all arenas and schools in the province.
They are all registered Medavie Health Services New Brunswick’s public access defibrillator program, which allows emergency dispatchers to direct 911 callers to the closest AED.
For Oulton, who still has no idea what caused his sudden cardiac arrest, he said it is fantastic to see the work that Heart & Stroke New Brunswick is doing to get portable defibrillators into more places.
“I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that.”
