Bystanders use defibrillator to help save boy in cardiac arrest
'Without the actions of the bystanders, the outcome might have been quite different,' paramedics say
Bystanders helped revive a 15-year-old who collapsed while playing futsal at Sir Robert Borden High School on Greenbank Road Saturday.
An automated external defibrillator stationed at the school was used, paramedics wrote in a news release issued Monday.
The boy was playing in a futsal tournament when he collapsed, paramedics said. Futsal is a version of indoor soccer played with a slightly smaller ball.
A cardiologist who was there started CPR while others retrieved the school's defibrillator. They then gave the teen a single shock before paramedics arrived.
Paramedics continued resuscitation and gave the boy more shocks before his pulse returned, paramedics wrote.
Serious but stable condition
The patient regained consciousness en route to a local hospital.
He is currently at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in serious but stable condition.
"Without the actions of the bystanders, the outcome might have been quite different," paramedics wrote. "This event reminds us again of the importance of bystander CPR and the early application of [a defibrillator]."
Paramedics said the boy is the fifth person in Ottawa revived with the help of a public access defibrillator so far this year.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this article stated that paramedics reported the teen had a cardiac arrest while playing basketball. Paramedics later issued a correction, saying the teen had in fact been playing soccer.Apr 09, 2018 3:32 PM ET