Fran Trathen collapsed last year while showing the Alderney vicar, Samantha Martell, around a property. Having trained in CPR years before and completed a Restart a Heart refresher course just a week earlier, Ms Martell stepped in immediately.
‘I’d learned CPR years ago, and I’d done a Restart a Heart refresher course only the week before,’ said Ms Martell. ‘I grabbed my phone and dialled 999, and the call handler told me to start CPR. I just went into autopilot and kept going, telling Fran: “Don’t die on me.”
‘It felt like forever, but then I heard the sirens, and suddenly there were people all around us.’
Alderney’s volunteer Community First Responders and the island’s full-time ambulance crew arrived on the scene, and after ongoing treatment Ms Trathen’s heart started beating again.
Ms Trathen, who works part-time at an estate agents and had previously volunteered with the Alderney ambulance service, has only a vague recollection of the day.
‘I had gone to do a viewing on a property, to show Sam around. I walked in – and that is about it,’ she said. ‘The first thing I remember was waking up in Alderney hospital and then again in Southampton.’
She is now backing calls for more islanders to learn the skill.
‘I’ve done CPR myself in the past, but everyone should learn CPR,’ she said. ‘It could be your son or daughter or your mum or dad or brother who collapses next to you. I don’t think anyone should be without those skills, even children.’
Her story has been shared to mark Restart a Heart Week, during which St John Ambulance and Rescue Service – which runs the ambulance service in Alderney – is again offering free CPR and defibrillator sessions in both islands. Ms Martell said the training had been vital. ‘The training was absolutely paramount,’ she said.
‘As a priest, I believe God was in all of this. It was the right place and the right time for me to be there for Fran.’
Matthew McAllister Wilding, who was on the ambulance crew that day, said the case showed exactly why the week mattered. ‘This is what Restart a Heart week is all about,’ he said. ‘This case is a great example of why it is so important to know what to do and having the confidence to act quickly. When someone collapses and stops breathing normally, it is important to act quickly and call 999.’
Jim Cathcart, ambulance team leader for Alderney, said that CPR can double the chances of survival and the survival rates go up again if a defibrillator is available.
‘Fran’s story is one of several cases from Guernsey and Alderney in recent years where people are alive today thanks to a member of the public doing CPR and use of an AED.
‘The call taker will instruct you how to perform CPR, but recent research shows that 42% of people lack the confidence or skills to perform CPR – and only 14% of people feel confident to use an AED, so having the training is a great help.
‘These are skills for life and I would encourage everyone in our community to learn these skills, because one day it could help save a life.’
Restart A Heart is a national event led by the Resuscitation Council UK, which aims to increase the number of people surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
Events are going on in Alderney and Guernsey during the week.