Off-duty nurse saves man’s life after suffering cardiac arrest at Greensborough pool
Jenna Boglis was in a group fitness class at Greensborough WaterMarc when she heard commotion at the centre’s nearby swimming pool. She rushed over to find absolute panic and an elderly man laying beside the water, not breathing.
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An off-duty nurse saved the life of an elderly man after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a spin class at a public swimming centre in Greensborough on Wednesday.
Jenna Boglis said she was in a group fitness class at WaterMarc when she heard the commotion and rushed over to see if she could help.
The midwife and former emergency nurse said the 78-year-old man, who went by the name of George, was “unresponsive” and started to resuscitate him.
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Another off-duty nurse joined in to help save the man’s life, while two off-duty firefighters called triple-zero and went to retrieve a defibrillator.
“We interchanged rounds of CPR and on the fifth round we finally got a pulse,” Ms Boglis said.
“I’m just so glad he’s alive because it would have been heartbreaking for him to die right there and then.”
Ms Boglis said she had never rescued a life while off-duty before in her 11-year career and said it was extremely rare for somebody to survive after CPR without any medical equipment on-scene.
“I’ve never seen this too much especially with people in the older generation — it’s truly incredibly,” she said.
“It could have happened anywhere — even ten minutes later in the car park while none of us were around to help — he’s extremely lucky that we were there at the right place, at the right time.”
Ms Boglis said the man’s “scary near-death experience” highlighted the importance of knowing basic life support skills.
“I think this incident really reiterates how important it is to know CPR and basic life support because at any moment you may need to be called upon to save someone’s life,” she said.
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WaterMarc centre manager Alex Hutchison praised the quick-thinking actions of the off-duty emergency service workers and staff.
“Management are proud of how our trained staff handled the situation,” he said.
“The safety of our community is our number one priority and it’s fantastic to see such a positive outcome.”
The man was taken to hospital in a conscious state and has since been admitted.