An off-duty paramedic played a key role in helping a 20-year-old man come out of cardiac arrest after the man collapsed during a ball-hockey game in Cumberland, Ottawa paramedics say.
The incident happened around 10:25 a.m. on Saturday, when the paramedic noticed a commotion during the game at R.J. Kennedy Memorial Arena.
The paramedic began CPR while arena staff quickly grabbed the defibrillator nearby, using their training to help treat the patient. His pulse came back after two shocks.
By the time an advanced care paramedic unit arrived, the man was awake and talking. He was taken to hospital, where his status was upgraded from life-threatening condition to stable condition.
The paramedic service is crediting their defibrillator program with helping to save the man's life, noting more than 9,000 people annually are trained in defibrillators and more than 660 public-access machines are deployed throughout the Ottawa region.
