One in three heart attack victims who got defibrillation from bystanders survived, study reveals

Almost one-third of heart attack victims who received defibrillation from members of the public last year survived, a new report shows.

The number of cases where a bystander coming across someone suffering cardiac arrest administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has jumped by 24 per cent over the past decade, according to the report from the Health Service Executive national ambulance service.

“It’s great to see that bystander CPR in cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in this country increased so much between 2012 and 2022,” said Prof Conor Deasy, a consultant in emergency medicine at Cork University Hospital.

“Members of the public defibrillated 282 patients, of whom 87 survived (31 per cent). This achievement emphasises the importance of community first responders and public access defibrillators in saving lives.”

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First responders, who often arrive on the scene of a 999 call before paramedics, can include members of the general public, off-duty healthcare workers, members of dedicated responder groups, gardaí, fire-fighters and first aid groups.

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Defibrillation was attempted in 896 cases last year; in 31 per cent of these cases, prior to the arrival of emergency medical services.

Overall, there were 2,802 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests where resuscitation continued after the arrival of the emergency services.

Patients range in age from under one to 101 years, with a median age of 69. Two-thirds were men.

Last April, Molua Donohoe, from Rosses Point, Co Sligo, suffered an unexpected cardiac arrest while exercising on a rowing machine in his home.

Thanks to the quick actions of his 18-year-old daughter and local community first responders, he survived.

“I had run more than 50 marathons and was generally in good health when I collapsed,” Mr Donohoe explained. “Luckily my teenage daughter Alannah was in the house and immediately started CPR, taking instructions on the phone from the emergency services. Alannah had learned a bit about CPR in transition year and gave the calltaker our Eircode.”

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Within minutes, local community first responder Reece Cawley arrived at the house to help, having received an alert from the ambulance service.

“Reece happened to be at a meeting at the nearby lifeboat station as he is also a volunteer crew member there. He took the defibrillator off the wall when he got the text and was driven to our house a mile away by RNLI volunteer Daryl Ewing. They both applied the defibrillator which gave me a shock and my heart restarted and soon afterwards the ambulance arrived.”

Mr Donohoe was treated in Sligo University Hospital and had two stents inserted in the Mater hospital in Dublin as he had partial blockages in two arteries. He is back at work in the Atlantic Technological University, training on his bicycle and walking a couple of hours a day. Having recently gone on holiday in Majorca with his family he said he is “feeling good”.

It is important that as many people as possible are aware of CPR and know where defibrillators are located and how to use them, he added.