Life saved by quick response from members of the public
The incident happened outside Tullow Credit Union on Bridge Street
A MAN’S life was saved after he collapsed in the centre of Tullow on Thursday, thanks to a quick response by members of the public. The man, who is believed to be in his 60s, took ill at lunchtime on Thursday and collapsed outside the local credit union on Bridge Street.
A lorry driver and a woman who was passing in her car saw it happening and went to help. Then, a staff member from Carlow County Council, who is trained in delivering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), reacted immediately to the emergency and began carrying out the procedure. A doctor and a nurse who happened to be passing by helped, while two volunteers with Tullow Community First Responders (CFR) also assisted after they were alerted.
A local shopkeeper ran and got a defibrillator from the credit union and that was used in conjunction with the CPR. An ambulance was called just before 1pm and the patient was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Dublin.
The quick and calm response to the emergency and the expertise of the others who helped to save the man’s life was raised on Thursday evening at a meeting of Tullow Municipal District.
Pat Harrington, senior executive engineer of Tullow MD, praised them for their intervention, saying it was “a difficult job”, but thanks to them using CPR and knowing how to use a defibrillator, the man’s life was saved.
Cllr William Paton, who’s an instructor in CPR and the use of defibrillators, is a member of Tullow CFR. “This was a real community response that saved a man’s life,” said cllr Paton.
He said that several members of Carlow County Council and the public have expressed an interest since the incident in learning the life-saving procedure.
Tullow CFR hosts training courses called Heart Saver by the Irish Heart Foundation. Anyone who’s interested in completing a Heart Saver course should contact cllr Paton on 087 6787115.
