Local firefighters have saved a captain’s life after he went into cardiac arrest on the fire ground.
Spring Hill Fire Brigade Lieutenant Garry McKimm said members were fighting a small fire in a caravan attached to a house at Glenlyon last month when Captain Scott Selle collapsed.
“I was talking to the captain when he said he was feeling a bit faint and soon after collapsed into my arms”.
While firefighters were fighting the blaze, a small team had assembled to assist to Mr Selle – an ambulance on its way.
“We called for the first-aid kits and within a couple of minutes we were able to get the defibrillator onto him. We brought him back in under three to four minutes. Getting the defibrillator to him early was a big game changer for us,” Mr McKimm said.
“We had him in the recovery position. He then stopped breathing and the defibrillator couldn’t find his heartbeat. We had to give another shock and then he came back. He was in and out of consciousness.”
Woodend Ambulance paramedics and MICA paramedics from Daylesford shortly arrived on the scene to take over. They rushed Mr Selle to hospital by ambulance, where he underwent successful bypass surgery.
Mr McKimm, who works in construction, said he was grateful to have regular first aid training through the CFA and his work, and to have had trained people on the ground with him.
“They say the MCG and shopping centres are the best places to have a heart attack and we think the fire line is probably pretty good too because people at the fire ground have got first-aid training,” he said.
Fellow members assisting Mr Selle were Spring Hill Brigade’s Kath Wyatt, Glenlyon Brigade’s Russel Newton and Daylesford Brigade’s Alex Pearce.
“It’s amazing how the training just kicks in. We knew we couldn’t lose him… We just let the training do its job and it was just: go, go, go,” Mr McKimm said.
“I didn’t get a chance to see much of the fire. Members were working to bring that under control quickly. We were very fortunate there was no loss of life in both cases.”
Thankful for the team’s quick thinking, Mr Selle is now recovering from his surgery at home.
*Money raised from public donations after the deadly Black Summer fire season of 2019/2020 is being used to roll out vital defibrillators to all CFA trucks.
