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Department of Conservation Ranger Dave Johnson, 54, is recovering at Dunedin Hospital after a six-way heart bypass earlier this year. He suffered a cardiac arrest in Deep Cove.
Dave Johnson will never forget how his colleagues’ CPR and defibrillator skills brought him back to life after being dead for 20 minutes.
Johnson’s health deteriorated earlier this year while he was working as a Ranger for the Department of Conservation in Fiordland. She was on a dolphin monitoring work week in Doubtful Sound with DOC Marine Ranger Chloe Corne and University of Otago Marine Science Professor Will Remnant.
They were staying in an apartment at the Deep Cove Hostel when Johnson went into cardiac arrest.
“I fell off the couch, dead,” said Johnson, 54.
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Corne and Remnant performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) at Johnson.
“They put the AED on me and I came back to life with the second shock.”
An oxygen unit, from the University of Otago dive team base, helped him breathe.
Emergency services personnel arrived. A group of parents of school children, who were staying at the shelter, helped Johnson onto a stretcher to the rescue helicopter.
Johnson was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital, where he underwent a six-way heart bypass a week later.
Interestingly, Johnson taught Corne and Remnant CPR and AED procedures in first aid training prior to his cardiac arrest.
“You never know who you’re going to do it to,” Johnson said of first aid.
His experience is one that St John is highlighting for Restart a Heart Day, an international event to empower people and raise awareness about CPR and the use of a defibrillator, on October 16.
Johnson would like the DOC operations teams to have AED and for the equipment to be available on Anchor Island and Milford, Kepler and Routeburn Tracks.
St John’s studies showed that every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chance of surviving cardiac arrest, said St John Hokonui Territory Manager Jan Douglas.
“Our studies have shown that the survival rate can double if people follow three steps: call 111 for an ambulance, begin CPR immediately, and use the nearest AED.”
SAN JUAN FACTS ARCHIVE
- Only one in 10 New Zealanders survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
- Approximately 1,500 people die each year after cardiac arrest in New Zealand, a number five times the national toll.
- Survival rates can be dramatically improved with bystander CPR and the use of an AED.
- For every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation, a patient’s chance of survival drops by 10-15%.
- Death from cardiac arrest is our ‘silent price’. It can happen to anyone of any age, including children.
- We remain focused on reducing this toll, but we cannot do it alone.
- Increasing the number of trained members of the public along with access to AEDs can improve the odds of more than 2,000 Kiwis suffering from cardiac arrest each year.
- Anyone over the age of 18 who knows how to perform CPR can sign up and download the GoodSAM Responder app, so you can be alerted that someone close to you is in cardiac arrest and needs help.
- Know where AEDs are located in your area.
