CPR helps doctor save father at roadside

The IHF aims to create a “nation of life savers” by training the public in CPR skills

A doctor urges the public to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) life-saving skills after saving her father's life when he had cardiac arrest while cycling.

Dr. Caoimhe Costigans Father Colm, who is also a doctor, collapsed when he got off his bike.

"I literally put my phone on speakerphone, put it on daddy's chest, and called 999. I just started doing CPR without really thinking about it – the man on the phone was very helpful. I told him I was a doctor and do CPR, ”said Dr. Costigan of Glasnevin in Dublin.

“I was desperately concerned about Dad. I kept trying to remember the stories of others who had survived cardiac arrest with good CPR.

"I didn't do a roadside PhD – because I knew CPR. I literally couldn't have done anything else."

Dr. Costigan spoke ahead of the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) Restart a Heart campaign, which was launched to encourage people to go online to learn life-saving CPR skills after physical education classes were suspended due to Covd-19 restrictions .

CPR, according to the charity, could triple a person's chances of surviving after a cardiac arrest.

In treating a potential heart failure victim, the first step was to call 999 or 112 and the second was to press the center of the chest firmly and quickly.

Dr. Costigan said she took a short break during her 22-minute CPR procedure to ask a passer-by to give instructions to emergency services.

She didn't stop to hand over to the paramedics until they were on site with a defibrillator.

Dr. Costigan said she watched with concern as the rescue team worked on her father, adding that it took "quite a long time" for him to be resuscitated.
"Finally, after the third or maybe fourth shock from the defibrillator, I heard one of the guys screaming that he had a pulse," she said.

Dr. Colm Costigan, originally from Offaly but living in Baldoyle, Co Dublin, was later flown to Limerick University Hospital where he had a stent inserted.

As part of their two-week campaign, the IHF released an online video with a CPR manikin named Manny Quinn to promote the two essential steps in performing CPR on a person with cardiac arrest.

Brigid Sinnott, resuscitation manager at the IHF, said that thousands of people die of cardiac arrest each year in Ireland, and about 70 percent of deaths occur at home in front of a friend or relative.

She said the IHF wanted to create "a nation of lifesavers" by training as many people as possible in CPR.

"If someone who knows CPR can get started doing compressions quickly, they can double or even triple a person's chances of survival," Sinnott said.

“In 2018, 176 people survived cardiac arrest due to the actions of someone who knew CPR. If an additional 100,000 people learn CPR, we could potentially save an additional 60 lives a year on average.

"However, a person's chances of survival drop 10 percent for every minute that goes by without someone performing CPR or using a defibrillator."

“Last year we started a free community hands-for-life CPR training program that was very successful. With the pandemic, however, we need to innovate to get our message across, ”she continued.

"Because of Covid, we have had to stop providing CPR classes, so we encourage people to watch Manny Quinn's video message at www.irishheart.ie to understand what to do in the event of a heart attack."

Sinnott also said, "The more people know what to do in case of cardiac arrest, the more likely a person with cardiac arrest will receive this simple life-saving treatment."

"It's really important that people realize that they don't have to be a trained doctor or health professional to do CPR – anyone can," she added.

"An important first step is to call 999 or 112 as the emergency services will walk you through each step of CPR and will speak to you on the phone until the emergency services arrive."