Caregiver highlights the importance of CPR

Caregiver highlights the importance of CPR
A caregiver highlighted the importance of learning how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation after she and others went to the aid of a senior who collapsed in Hamilton last month.

Devena Lightbourne was one of several people who leapt to action when the man became unwell while on his bike at the traffic lights on Church Street near its junction with Dismont Drive.

She said: “I encourage the community and others to learn how to do CPR, not only adults but children.

“We never know when we are going to use those tools. And do not be afraid of it, embrace it, because people need it.

“We need each other, we need to encourage each other in survival as well.”

Recounting the incident, Ms Lightbourne, who worked in the banking sector for 32 years, said she was driving along Church Street when she saw a man lying at the side of the street.

She added: “I saw him in the road and I started to approach him. At that point I saw the guy from City Hall coming across to assist.”

Ricardo Lamb, an employee of the City of Hamilton, was one of several people who responded at the scene.

Ms Lightbourne, who provides care at home, said she immediately realised that she should help the group.

She said: “I made a detour and parked in front of City Hall and I ran to assist.

“I said to them we need to do chest compressions and I did that and then we took turns.”

She said since the group did not have a mouth guard, they continued to perform chest compressions.

“A year ago, I renewed my status to perform CPR so it was fresh in my mind, so it became natural for me,” she added.

Ms Lightbourne, who is the administrator at Brighton Hill Church of Christ in Devonshire, said a nurse visiting from Boston also arrived on the scene.

She recalled: “The lady threw off her flip-flops, dropped her bag in the middle of the road and she was down on her knees and she said, ‘We got this’.”

In the distance they heard sirens but when she looked up, Ms Lightbourne said, she saw it was police who went on to direct traffic building up near the scene.

She added: “The lady from Boston said let’s keep doing the chest compressions and we were just concentrating on getting the gentleman revived.

“I asked another lady to call 911 again because time was going.”

Ms Lightbourne said someone brought an automated external defibrillator, which was used to monitor the man’s condition.

She added: “I felt like I was a coach and I said, let’s keep with the compressions, and then a few minutes later, the ambulance arrived.”

Ms Lightbourne said that while emergency medical technicians attended to the man, she saw that he bit a tube being used to resuscitate him.

She said she felt relieved at that point and then reached out to thank everyone at the scene for their assistance, although she was concerned about the patient.

Ms Lightbourne said later that day, she made calls to find out about the man’s condition.

First she heard from police that he survived and was being treated in hospital.

Another call later confirmed that the medical team was able to bring the situation under control, and that the man was OK.

“I said, ‘Thank you, God’,” she added.

Ms Lightbourne said she was still amazed by the actions of everyone who attended to the man.

She added: “The team did well. Everyone who was there fell into place.

“People who didn’t know each other responded.

“It was like in a movie; it was something that I don’t know if I would experience again but if it happens, I would be there to help out anyone that needs me.”

Ms Lightbourne said that in the past she had responded to aid people at accident scenes and recalled one instance several years ago close to Lindo’s in Warwick.

Since that day, she said, it became a duty of hers to learn how to administer CPR and to always look out for others in need of help.