Waikuku SAR squad and public ensure cyclist’s cardiac arrest not fatal 

The Waikuku SAR squad received an incredible email in early April from a very grateful cardiac arrest patient who informed them, thanks to their efforts, he was home with whanau.  

A week earlier on 23 March, five members of the Waikuku Beach SAR squad responded to a GoodSam cardiac arrest activation in Waikuku. Two members of the team responded to the address, while three members went to the surf club to collect the defibrillator and resus kit. 

They met at the address, only to find no one at the property. While canvassing the street, they met a cyclist coming out of the Pegasus-Waikuku cycle trail who told them that someone was having a cardiac arrest one kilometre into the track. Four members of the team proceeded to run down the track carrying the equipment, while one member stayed behind to find a way to bring a vehicle through the two locked gates.  

On scene, the squad found a cyclist who had experienced an unwitnessed cardiac arrest. Members of the public were performing CPR on the man. The team took over CPR, inserted an OPA airway and began high flow oxygen bag masking and administered a shock. Within several minutes, the team achieved return of spontaneous circulation. 

The team were able to stop CPR just as emergency services and rescue helicopter were arriving, 20 minutes after the initial call. The team continued to assist where they could, while a critical care paramedic performed an RSI procedure prior to loading the patient onto the helicopter.  

SLSNZ Club Support Lead – Canterbury-Tasman, Amy Philip said there is almost no doubt that the patient’s survival and fast recovery was a result of effective CPR from the public and resus efforts by the Waikuku SAR squad.  

“Immediate medical intervention was almost certainly the difference between life and death for the patient,” says Amy. 

“I would like to congratulate the following people for being part of the efforts that saved this man's life, Helena Cook, Dai Brooks, Tomos Brooks, Zac Fenwick-Bull and Aaron Harris.” 

SLSNZ Search and Rescue Manager, Matt Cairns said SLSNZ’s volunteer SAR squads remain on call across the motu over the winter months.  

“Having highly-trained response units located closer to events ensures response times are greatly reduced.  

“And medical interventions performed by surf lifesavers are often the difference between life and death for a patient who experiences a medical event or accident outside of our main centres.” 

The patent’s email reads: 

“I have made a modest donation to the club’s SAR team fund this morning as a small way to thank them for responding to my heart attack on the Waikuku to Pegasus cycle way on 23 of March. My unbelievable recovery, from this normally fatal event, was helped in no small way by their contribution to the response from the GoodSam alert and I am eternally grateful”.