It is a birthday Madhav Chhibbar will probably never forget.
It won’t be the birthday cake or presents that made an impression on the 20-year-old, rather remembering how he possibly saved a man’s life.
Chhibbar was working his regular shift at the front desk of South Arm Community Centre on July 30 when two patrons came running from the fitness centre saying someone had collapsed.
Chhibbar grabbed the centre’s AED and headed for the fitness centre.
On the way, he saw a friend, Lyndon, from McRoberts secondary - who’d been on the school’s first responder team with him - and the two of them went to assess the situation. They were joined by another staff person.
At first, the man seemed to be shaking and they thought he was having a seizure.
But when they noticed him going pale and his pulse getting weaker, they started CPR.
All the while, someone was on the phone with 911.
Both Chhibbar and his friend Lyndon had taken first aid and first responder training while in high school, and “muscle memory” kicked in as they remembered scenarios they had practiced.
The thought going through Chhibbar’s head was “what can we do best to save this person?”
Teamwork and a tight-knit staff culture helped the three work together on the collapsed man, he explained.
It was 16 minutes later when paramedics showed up and took over the scene.
The man who collapsed was in an induced coma for a few days, but when he woke up, he was fully alert without any damage from oxygen loss.
The family, who wanted to remain anonymous, expressed their gratitude to the South Arm staff and patron who helped save the father’s life.
Furthermore, the neurosurgeons at the hospital told the family, if it hadn’t been for the way CPR was performed so well, the outcome might not have been as good.
For Chhibbar, it was a stressful few days until he heard the man had come out of the coma and was doing well.
“That put my mind at ease,” he said.
In talking to the Richmond News, however, Chhibbar was self-effacing hearing about how grateful the family was that he and others had stepped in to help.
“It makes me feel great – but it was a group effort,” Chhibbar told the News.
But, for Chhibbar, the incident highlighted the need for everyone to learn CPR. It’s something he thinks should be taught in school to all students, making sure the next generation can respond with life-saving measures in critical incidents.
‘Citizen responders’ needed: Retired Richmond paramedic
“Citizen responder” is the term Jeff Watts prefers to use when referring to non-professionals – family, friends, passersby - who respond to medical emergencies.
The professionals who come after are actually the “second responders,” he added, which is why it’s crucial that those first at the scene have the knowledge to assess the situation and possibly perform first aid and CPR.
In 1997, Watts was instrumental in setting up first responder courses for high school students, and currently all 10 Richmond high schools have first-responder teams that can provide life-saving intervention in an emergency at school.
The importance of having “citizen responders” who know how to react in an emergency situation became evident to Watts shortly after the student training began.
At the APEC summit in the fall of 1997 – and the ensuing riot – Watts was on the frontlines taking care of a patient behind a wall of protesters.
All of a sudden, he heard a booming voice – “give them room to work.” He looked up to see a petite Asian woman doing crowd control.
Not only was he shocked that such a petite person could command the attention of the crowd, but what really pleased him was seeing she was wearing a pin she’d received from one of the first responder courses.
“Right there, it made the program all worthwhile,” Watts said.
Watts, a retired Richmond paramedic, said “citizen responders” might just use the training once in their lifetime, but it could make the difference between life and death.
The students who take part in the first responder course – done on weekends – are highly motivated to learn, Watts said.
At times, however, it took some convincing of school administrators to have first responder teams comprised of students.
In 2000, one female student, Jenny Lucow, had done the training over two weekends – while on crutches the second weekend with a reconstructed knee.
Just weeks later, a student went into cardiac arrest at her high school, McMath secondary, and Lucow jumped into action.
In fact, she ended up instructing the gym teacher, who was the first aid attendant, on how to tilt the student’s head back to clear the airway. She continued to respond until paramedics arrived.
“When I got to work at the Richmond (ambulance) station, they were jumping up and down saying they couldn’t believe the call,” Watts explained.
When Steveston Rotary heard about how Lucow responded, they gave her a one-year scholarship, and she went on to do an honours psychology degree looking into stress among paramedics.
She also become a paramedic and later a midwife.
The stories about students responding to medical emergencies continue to pour in, Watts said, and a story like Chhibbar’s response is typical - and commendable - of young people knowing what to do in a critical situation.
“Every year we get reports of youth acting beyond their years,” Watts said.
In fact, at the O-Zone during the 2010 Olympics, all the first-aid attendants were high school students, he noted.
Watts encourages everyone to take a first responder course.
Many people are afraid of doing the wrong thing in an emergency situation, Watts said, but “standing there and staring at the patient is the wrong thing to do.”
Taking a first responder course can break down the “mystery,” he added.
In addition to first-responder teams at the 10 Richmond high schools, there are also 15 other schools in the Lower Mainland that have first-responder teams.
Furthermore, Cambie secondary offers an emergency medical service program – its two-year Medical Sciences program – and, upon completion, graduates can apply to be licensed paramedics.
Since the first-responder training began, about 6,000 students have gone through the program.
Some have become nurses, others have gone on to become doctors, but about 100 of the graduates are currently employed with the BC Emergency Health Services as paramedics.
