Stars aligned for me to survive Cardiac Arrest

I am compelled to take this opportunity of sharing my survival story after having suffered a recent Cardiac Arrest and my thoughts regarding improving survival rates for everyone.

My company arranged a friendly 7-a side football match against another local company (Cavendish Residential) at the Nottingham Power League Complex on 13th March 2023 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. I had a bit of ‘Man Flu’ for a few days before the match so wasn’t feeling great, however I braved it out and played anyway.

I managed to play most of the match until I received a knee injury and decided to exit the game and watch the last few minutes from the side-line. Turns out one of our key employees Kelly Whetton had arrived unexpectedly to watch the match. A few seconds after saying Hi to Kelly she noticed I was lying on the ground and quickly realised that I was unconscious and unresponsive. Kelly raised the alarm to our team colleagues and my co Director Steven Ker and Customer Care Manager Andrei Cox rushed over and immediately started CPR. Fortunately, Kirsty from the Power League Complex brought out a Defibrillator that was close by onsite which was used once to get my heart re-started. In the meantime, Kelly had called the emergency services from her mobile and put them on speaker to communicate with the CPR team that now included Kirsty as well as Stevie and Andrei who continued CPR until the ambulance arrived, incredibly within 9 mins, and took over. Although still unconscious, I was now breathing thanks to the fantastic input from everyone onsite.

I was taken to NUH QMC A&E Department and put into an induced coma, before being transferred to NUH City Hospital Critical Care Unit a few hours later.

My family who travelled from Shrewsbury and Scotland were able to sit with me for a while, although I was still in a coma. They were informed that it was possible I may not wake up, but the reaction time and input from all involved vastly increased my chances of survival.

I was brought out of my induced coma on the morning of Tuesday 14th March 2023 and was able to breathe independently. By early evening I was sitting up and talking to my family although confused and disorientated and ‘fully medicated!’. I was then scheduled for an MRI Scan the following day with a view of moving wards afterwards.

On Wednesday 15th March 2023 I was sent for the scan, however it had to be halted part way through as I became agitated and would not comply. The procedure was abandoned then I was transferred to the Acute Cardiac Unit (ACU-B6).

I had an Angiogram on the morning of Thursday 16th March to check condition of my arteries and heart valves, which I managed to endure without any protest (I think). However, that afternoon my behaviour became a bit irrational, phoning my family and making silly demands (least said about that the better).

Note: Everything above in bold text I have no recollection of. The last thing I remember was arriving at the Nottingham Power League car park pre-match. The details mainly come from information collated by my daughter Rhianne who connected with all relevant people to put the jigsaw together for me. Some details are omitted (by me) to preserve some dignity!.??

My after event recollections begin on the morning of Friday 17th March, which is when I began to see the dedication and professionalism of the NHS staff looking after me. The next few days were pretty much stable with the exception of me flooding the ward whilst having a shower, apologies to Alex from the ACU who had to clear this up.

On Monday 20th March 2023 I had an Echocardiogram with a follow up consultation on Tuesday 21st March 2023. The consultant informed me that the likely outcome would be I would have an Implantable Defibrillator (SICD) fitted sometime that week, however he asked me if I would be willing to participate in a research study/clinical trial for a new type of arterial expansion balloon coated with a drug (SELUTION SLR Balloon (DCB)). I agreed to this, and that afternoon was taken down to Theatre to receive the treatment. I was awake the whole time through the procedure and was able to watch the implantation process on a huge high resolution screen. An amazing process to witness.

On the morning of Wednesday 22nd March, the consultant visited me and told me that the procedure had been a great success and in fact they were able to identify the exact cause of the Cardiac Arrest, which was basically a tear in an artery that then caused a blockage. They targeted this area with the new balloon technology with great effect and as they were able to identify a direct cause of the Cardiac Arrest I was informed an SICD would not be required and could be discharged that day.

As was mentioned by my Co Director Stevie Ker, “the stars aligned for me” at each step of this event.

1.?????Kelly turning up unexpectedly to raise the alarm.

2.?????Having my company employees CPR Trained.

3.?????A Defibrillator being available close by onsite.

4.?????The Ambulance Service taking less than 9 mins to arrive onsite.

5.?????The fast clinical response from NUH QMC & City Hospital Critical Care / ACU Departments

6.?????And of course the opportunity to participate in the clinical trial of the SELUTION SLR Ballon (DCB).

Cardiac arrest is the term used to describe sudden cessation of heart function. After cardiac arrest occurs, blood stops being circulated to the vital organs and consciousness is lost within seconds. Unless resuscitation is started promptly death will occur within a few minutes. Each year about 30,000 people receive resuscitation for an Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) in the United Kingdom (UK). Only one in every twenty people that have a cardiac arrest survive to go home from hospital. [Source: Warwick Clinical Trials Unit)

Having gone through this experience it has made me question why the stars are not always aligned for everyone that experiences an event like this. And through discussion with others with similar issues in my ward, work colleagues, friends and family, we came up with the following considerations:

1.?????Clearly there are not enough Defibrillators readily available to capture a high percentage of people who have Cardiac Arrest. You may see one or two around a town, however time is of the essence if someone has a Cardiac Arrest and if you are not in close proximity to a Defibrillator your chances of survival are very low (5%) and at best could be left with permanent brain damage.

2.?????Not enough people are trained in CPR to significantly increase the chances of survival of a Cardiac Arrest.

Possible Solutions with significant impact on survival rate of Cardiac Arrest

1.?????It should be compulsory for all businesses (with premises) to have Defibrillators installed. We know every second counts so if you are in a local shop for example and experience Cardiac Arrest response can be immediate, instead of having to exit the premises to go find a randomly located Defibrillator.

2.?????All businesses should make it compulsory for all capable staff to have CPR Training.

3.?????CPR Training should become part of the educational curriculum, eventually creating a population of potential life savers.

4.?????With Electric Vehicles now becoming the dominant way forward in transport, perhaps all should be equipped with Defibrillators as standard. Surely this is a distinct possibility with the technology at hand. This would then give most people immediate access to a fast response to Cardiac Arrest, therefore significantly increasing survival rate.

I could say I am so lucky to be in the 5% of survivors, but luck did not really have anything to do with it. The right things were in the right place to make my survival possible and it should be for everyone.

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#firstaid #nhs #hospital #sports #cardiology #traininganddevelopment

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