Toowoomba paramedics take two minutes to save elderly man’s life after alleged assault in CBD

Paramedics have revealed how they saved an elderly man’s life after he was the victim of an alleged assault in the centre of Toowoomba.

Paramedics are urging more Toowoomba residents to learn CPR, after it was revealed no members of the public had started the lifesaving treatment on an elderly man who was the alleged victim of an assault when paramedics arrived.

The Queensland Ambulance Service has revealed the quick response from its crews to save the life of the 75-year-old, who was the victim of an alleged assault outside Grand Central Shopping Centre on Margaret St on Monday about 5pm.

Detectives have charged Wilsonton man 18-year-old Isaac Zane Cubby with grievous bodily harm as a result of the incident.

QAS Darling Downs senior operations supervisor Brad Setch said paramedics reached the scene three minutes after it was reported, finding the man in cardiac arrest and with no pulse.

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Brad Setch.

“He hit the ground and unfortunately suffered a cardiac arrest down in the main street,” he said.

“This was witnessed by the community of Toowoomba which was upsetting to them.

“Our team approached him, provided lifesaving treatment to him — he didn’t have a pulse, he was not breathing (but) we were able to restart his heart with CPR.”

Crews then rushed the man to Toowoomba Hospital in a critical condition.

Mr Setch said while the ambulance station was thankfully a short distance from the centre of town, he urged more residents to learn CPR to avoid a future tragedy.

“We were very lucky under the circumstances that we got the return of spontaneous circulation and we transported him to Toowoomba Hospital,” he said.

“CPR is the thing that saves people’s lives, so if we can get community people to provide CPR, there’s nothing better than your own heart beating.

“If our response wasn’t quite as fast, we’d be relying on the public to perform CPR if we’re going to have a successful outcome like we did this time.

“With it being an act of violence, people might be nervous about stepping in, but time is very important when it comes to saving someone’s life.”

Scene of assault on elderly man outside Grand Central. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Mr Setch said the circumstances of the incident were “distressing”.

“To have someone who thinks they have the right to assault someone just going about their daily business is very distressing,” he said.

“This is an elderly gentleman just going about his business, and my thoughts go out to him and his family, because they’ve got to deal with this.”

Mr Setch said the QAS had not seen any increase in the number of cases of violent assaults in recent months.

Originally published as Toowoomba paramedics take two minutes to save elderly man’s life after alleged assault in CBD