Sark resident commended for giving life-saving CPR
A SARK resident who performed 20 minutes of CPR to save a life was among the life-saving heroes recognised at this year’s Ambulance & Rescue awards.
Hairdresser Amie Perree had qualified as a community first responder just a few months beforehand, but thanks to her help, by the time the ambulance crew arrived in the island on the Flying Christine III, the patient was fully conscious.
The patient made a full recovery and returned home to Scotland, and recorded a thank you message, which was played at the Flying Christine III’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
‘I was rushed to the incident by a man knocking on my door, the lady was in cardiac arrest and I gave her CPR for 20 minutes alongside her niece, who was a doctor, and her sister, who was giving breath-to-breath,’ said Mrs Perree.
‘When my colleagues turned up, we shocked her once, we went to start CPR again and she responded with “Ow”. She was definitely back with us and she’s now doing really, really well.’
In Sark, there are 10 first responders, one doctor and one nurse, and everyone who can attend an incident does so.
‘I feel very privileged to receive this, but it also shows how important it is to have community responders,’ said Mrs Perree.
'I feel like this is not just for me but to show that we’ve got something really special over there, and the work that has been done over the past five years.’
She was one of 14 people to be recognised for their contributions at yesterday’s ceremony.
In June, paramedic Laura Goodall and EMT Tim Hitchon were dispatched to Jerbourg point, where a car had gone over the cliff edge. They have now been given a recognition of performance.
They clambered down to the car through heavy undergrowth and remained with the patient throughout the rescue operation, including getting back up the cliff.
The pair were on call during yesterday's awards ceremony and had to leave. However, Stuart Malley, who was the St John incident commander at the time, said that his colleagues deserved the recognition for their work the incident, but would have likely said it was just part of the job.
‘It’s not often we deal with such a complex case. This was a serious incident and the casualty was seriously injured,’ he said.
‘It’s something that comes with the job, but there can be an expectation to put yourself in harms way to help someone, and while everything is risk-assessed, they went above and beyond to do that.’
n Read more about the award winners in Monday’s newspaper.
