When a child collapsed at a school sports day in Wrotham, no one expected a local builder to instantly respond and know exactly what to do to save the youngster’s life.

But that’s exactly what happened when Ian, who’s an on-call firefighter at Borough Green station, was alerted to the emergency while off duty via the GoodSam app.

Ian fits his on-call firefighter cover around his primary employment as a builder, and was working on a building job down the road from St George’s School when the app sounded. It notifies registered first responders in the area that someone is in cardiac arrest and needs urgent help.

Ian said: “I was 30 seconds from the school when the app notified me, so I dropped what I was doing and responded to the call out. The skills I’ve developed as an on-call firefighter at Kent Fire and Rescue Service mean I’m confident to to jump into action, fast, and help people in times of need.”

Headteacher of St Georges Primary School, Elizabeth, said: “When the young child collapsed, my teachers were fantastic and followed all the procedures. We called 999 and I was quickly greeted on the playground by Ian. He was very calm you could feel that someone with first responder experience was coming in.”

Ian started CPR on the child, whose wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. Medical professionals from the ambulance service were on the phone providing additional support, and a parent at the sports day who was an off-duty paramedic rushed to help too.

Ian said: “A member of school staff went to get the defibrillator and after a few rounds of CPR, the child gripped my hand. At first, I thought it was just a muscular contraction but to my delight, they gripped it again. We got a faint pulse, so the defibrillator didn’t need to be used but it was important we had it there ready.”

The child was taken to hospital in an ambulance and made a full recovery, going back to school just a few days later.

Following the incident, teachers at the St George’s booked onto a CPR and defibrillator session at Kent Fire and Rescue Service to refresh their skills.

Headteacher Elizabeth said: “It's important that everyone keeps up to date with basic first aid training, just to keep it fresh. It doesn't happen very often but it's good to keep on top of it.”

Ian added: “It’s fantastic that people want to learn, and at KFRS we host sessions throughout the year for local people attend.”

 

Teaching people CPR is something that is very close to Ian’s heart, after his friend passed away at 21-years-old.

He said: “My best friend had a cardiac arrest and basically dropped dead. We lived in a small village and at that time there were no defibrillators nearby and no one knew anything about CPR.

“The more people who know these simple life saving skills, the more people will survive – so I encourage everyone across Kent and Medway to visit the KFRS website and book onto a session with their local firefighters.”