Kudos to Castlegar cops during crisis
By Castlegar Source
An immediate response by the Castlegar RCMP may have contributed to a man surviving a dire medical situation this past Saturday in Castlegar.
On Sept. 17, at 9 a.m., officers with the Castlegar RCMP were approached in the detachment parking lot by individuals looking for assistance with a male who had collapsed while preparing for the local Farmer’s Market. The officers were advised that the 53-year-old male had just been found unconscious in his RV parked at the Castlegar museum. Two on-duty officers immediately attended the Castlegar Museum parking lot and located the male inside his RV. They moved the male from the RV and placed him on the ground outside and began CPR, while they awaited the arrival of BC Ambulance Services.
The officers were equipped and trained in the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and while one officer performed CPR, the second officer set up the AED and attached it to the unconscious man and activated the AED. The officers continued to perform CPR on the man until BCAS paramedics arrived shortly after and took over life-saving efforts. The male was transported to the Kelowna hospital, where on Sept. 19 it was learned that as of this time he was in stable condition.
It would appear that the quick actions of others combined with the preparedness and training of our officers and the quick response by BCAS, the male was sufficiently stabilized until he was able to receive further medical treatment, according to Sgt Laurel Mathew, Detachment Commander of the Castlegar RCMP.
