The life of a man was saved by rapid delivery of CPR and using an AED. For Lindsay Hickmott, he only memory he had back then on the hockey game was sitting on the bench and preparing to take his next shift.
Ordeal on the ice
His next memory was waking up in an ambulance, struggling to breathe and wondering what happened to him.
At the time of the incident, Hickmott and his Fraser Valley Cresting Wings were eager to turn around a losing round when they stepped onto the Centre Ice surface to face against the Canex All-Scars.
The game was still young in the initial period, when Hickmott took what would be his last shift. While he headed up the ice, Hickmott skated by his own bench and suddenly slumped to the ground. A teammate, Ed Griffioen who was on the bench saw Hickmott try and hold himself up using his stick and then collapsed. Griffioen thought that Hickmott might have taken a hit in the corner.
After his collapse, Hickmott remained on the ice. When his teammates checked on him, he was struggling to breathe and moaning. Hickmott’s heart and breathing ceased.
Timely response by teammates
Luckily, the chances of surviving the incident was a good one due to the several reasons. Initially, Centre Ice has an automated external defibrillator (AED). Second, there was a fire hall minutes away and staffed by trained first responders. Lastly, 2 of Hickmott’s teammates are veteran firefighters.
They quickly moved Hickmott off the ice and started CPR while a teammate retrieved the AED. After the device analyzed his heart, it prompted to deliver a shock. The electricity caused his body to jolt but there was still no pulse.
As Holt and Griffioen continue to perform CPR, the firefighters only a kilometer away arrived on the scene. They attached another AED to Hickmott and delivered another shock which restored a sketchy pulse.
The paramedics arrived at the arena and loaded Hickmott into an ambulance. The next day, a triple bypass surgery was performed on him.
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LEARN MORE
Learn how to help by enrolling in a course on CPR and AED and for more information, check out these sources:
Wikipedia – Mastering the Techniques of CPR
Wikipedia – The Role of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)
WebMD – Unveiling the Latest in CPR Technology: New Defibrillators