tauranga Journalist Gavin Ogden believes he would have died if his wife hadn’t known CPR. When the 48-year-old suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night, his wife Kirsten Ogden began training in first aid. She said, “I was on autopilot…I just started doing it.” Almost nine months later, Megan Wilson speaks to the couple about how that close call changed their lives.

Gavin Ogden remembers going to bed early on the night of July 28 because he felt nauseous.

The next thing he remembers was waking up in an ambulance.

Kirsten Ogden said her husband was woken up around 4 a.m. by “strange noises.”

She turned on the light and thought he might be having a seizure.

Kirsten immediately called 111, and the operator told her to get her out of bed and begin CPR.

“I was on autopilot, but I had taken some first aid courses so I didn’t have to think about it as much. I was just getting started,” Kirsten said. Bay of Plenty Times.

Kirsten performed CPR for about 15 minutes before volunteer first responders showed up and took over until paramedics arrived.

“It was scary. It was weird standing in the corner of our bedroom and just watching them try to resuscitate him. [defibrillator],” she said.

“I think they did it about three times before something happened.”

Reflecting on her actions, Kirsten said:

“It definitely changes the way we look at things completely, because we both realize how short life is and things can change in an instant. .”

The couple shared their story to encourage people to take first aid courses and learn CPR.

“If my wife didn’t know how to do CPR, I would have died,” Gavin said.

Health status before heart attack was ‘good’

Gavin visited a doctor a few days before his heart attack and said “everything was fine.”

He exercised almost every day, going for long walks or cycling, and was not overweight.

“So why do you think your heart stops beating when you go to bed at night?”

Dr Gavin said surgeons thought the family history might provide some clues, but they didn’t have enough information to be sure.

Gavin said he underwent angioplasty – a treatment that uses stents to open narrowed or blocked coronary arteries and improve blood flow to the heart – and was discharged from hospital a few days later.

He had chest burns and cracked ribs from the defibrillator, which he considered “a good sign” that CPR was being performed properly.

Moving his upper body for about six weeks was “quite difficult,” he said.

No suitable holiday for “years”

Gavin said he decided to “take a year off” after his heart attack to allow his body and mind to recover and focus more.

“I think I probably took all of that for granted. I think working in the media is probably part of it, because I’ve been doing that ever since I was in my 20s. , I’ve been doing it non-stop.

“I hadn’t taken a vacation in years, so that’s probably one of the reasons why this happened.”

Gavin said he and his wife were “lucky” to be in a financial position that allowed them to take time off from work.

He was aiming to walk 3 to 5 kilometers a day and had started surfing “a little more seriously”.

He took daily medication and had regular tests at Tauranga Hospital.

Still, the reenactment of the incident remained in his mind.

“Since we already have it, I think the risk of having it again is high.”

Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation is ‘crucial’ to survival

Hato Horn St John clinical services deputy chief executive Dr Damien Tomic said Mr Ogden’s story showed why it was important for New Zealanders to know more about CPR.

“We know that in the event of cardiac arrest, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation and application of an automated external defibrillator are critical to saving lives.”

He said people of any age can learn CPR and it doesn’t take long.

“Our report shows that community help can double the chances of survival.”

According to St John’s Hospital’s latest out-of-hospital cardiac arrest report, the hospital treated approximately 2,000 people with this type of cardiac arrest in the 2022/23 financial year.

Before ambulance arrival, 76% received CPR by bystanders and 5% received defibrillation by local responders.

23% of patients survived to hospital arrival, and 11% survived to 30 days after cardiac arrest.

“Without prompt intervention, cardiac arrest is always fatal. For every minute without CPR or defibrillation, a patient’s chance of survival decreases by 10 to 15 percent,” the report states.

Survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was primarily due to the quick actions of bystanders who initiated CPR and used a defibrillator.

megan wilson is a health and general news reporter. Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.