Kristine Sims saves husband's life with defibrillator she had installed at River Murray ferry stop

Authored by abc.net.au and submitted by Sariel007
image for Kristine Sims saves husband's life with defibrillator she had installed at River Murray ferry stop

The day Kristine "Kris" Sims saved her husband's life multiple times had started like a "pretty normal day".

Key points: Kristine Sims saved her husband's life with an automatic external defibrillator she installed

Kristine Sims saved her husband's life with an automatic external defibrillator she installed Andrew Sims was 55 with no history of heart issues when he had three cardiac arrests

Andrew Sims was 55 with no history of heart issues when he had three cardiac arrests First aid trainer Angela Lukacs says defibrillators can be especially important in regional areas

The couple was waiting for the ferry to cross the River Murray from Caurnamont to Purnong in South Australia's Mid Murray region.

Andrew Sims had been feeling fine when he jumped out of their car to pick up star droppers used to support a newly-installed sign on the riverbank.

"He walked back to the car, put them [the fence posts] in the boot and got in the driver's side," Mrs Sims said.

Andrew Sims was checking a sign before he had a sudden cardiac arrest. ( ABC Riverland: Sophie Holder )

The 55-year-old was having a heart attack.

Mrs Sims jumped into action, beckoning the nearby ferry operator to call triple-0.

Then she ran to the automated external defibrillator she had been responsible for securing less than a year earlier.

The life-saving device was one of two Mrs Sims had used a grant to have installed on both sides of the river for her community.

Kris Sims secured two automated external defibrillators using grant money. ( ABC Riverland: Sophie Holder )

With support from the defibrillator, she began CPR on Mr Sims while on the phone to emergency services.

"My husband started making gurgling noises ... and the triple-0 operator said, 'Put him into recovery'," she said.

Mrs Sims managed to get her husband's breath back but he started making a rattling sound in his airways.

His prognosis did not look good.

"The operator said, 'I think he's taking his last breaths'," she said.

"I've now been told [that rattling sound] is a death rattle."

But Mrs Sims was not giving up.

"I'm going, 'Nope, this is not going to happen'. So I just tried, and tried and tried," she said.

Andrew Sims was revived by his wife on the riverbank and taken to hospital. ( ABC Riverland: Sophie Holder )

Mr Sims had multiple cardiac arrests that day: two by the river and another in the back of the ambulance as he was rushed to Mannum District Hospital.

He was later flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he spent several days in a coma.

When the 55-year-old finally woke up he was surprised to find himself in a hospital bed.

"I was informed by Kris that I had a cardiac arrest and that I died a few times," he said.

Mr Sims had not had any pre-existing heart condition at the time of his heart attacks early last year.

Mrs Sims had got the two defibrillators installed on the riverbank because it was "the thing to do", never imagining she would use it to save her own husband.

"Never in anybody's mind were they going to be used, nor by me," she said.

"I don't know if I could have done the whole CPR as well as I was able to because the defibrillator was going push, push, breathe, breathe."

Now 57, Mr Sims said he had been given a "second chance in life" thanks to his wife.

"I could have easily had the cardiac arrest anywhere," he said.

"But having it there, at that time, with my wife there who had done first aid and also with a defibrillator on board, made me the luckiest person on earth on that day."

Mrs Sims said she hoped more regional communities would use her husband's close call to understand the crucial need for publicly installed defibrillators.

"I think every single facility now like schools, libraries, community halls, they all should have a defibrillator in place," she said.

"I would really like if there were more grants to help people get them in their communities, but also to run a training course.

"I did it by fluke because I'd read the little instruction booklet to work out how to put the battery in and where to put the wires and all the rest of it, but the average person probably doesn't [know]."

Kris Sims hopes other regional locations, like her tiny River Murray community, will install defibrillators. ( ABC Riverland: Sophie Holder )

First aid trainer Angela Lukacs said it was important for automated external defibrillators to be available in regional communities where hospitals were further away.

Angela Lukacs says defibrillators can increase the chance of survival. ( Supplied: Angela Lukacs )

"The quicker things happen, the more chance of survival people have got," she said.

"If you get in and help out in any way, their chances of survival jump dramatically."

Ms Lukacs said people needed to familiarise themselves with defibrillators in their communities.

"There are quite a few out there, and I think people would be surprised by how many there are in the community," she said.

"The problem is that a lot of people don't realise that and don't know where they are."

chance-- on October 20th, 2023 at 19:09 UTC »

He will, hence forth, lose all arguments over the procurement and/or placement of artifacts by default.

BestOfSalem on October 20th, 2023 at 19:03 UTC »

These need to be in as many places as possible. Good on Mrs. Sims for her efforts. Hopefully her husband makes a full recovery.

Zenmedic on October 20th, 2023 at 18:39 UTC »

For 19 of the 20 years of my career in EMS and Primary Care, I've been a huge advocate for public access defibrillation. (The first year, I didn't know any better).

Almost all of the cardiac arrests that I have attended that have had a good outcome are because of 2 factors. Good quality bystander CPR and early defibrillation.

Stories like this are why I keep crusading for it. CPR should be a mandatory class in high school. CPR training should be accessible and convenient for any who want to learn. Employers should provide CPR training to all employees and have access to defibrillators in the workplace.

There needs to be legislative changes in many countries and jurisdictions that prohibit employers from enacting policies that forbid employees from rendering assistance. This is a big issue in some places, with businesses enacting these policies to try to avoid litigation. They're afraid if the employee does something wrong, they'll be liable. Folks walking down the street have legal protections if they provide aid in most jurisdictions (and some go farther, with legal requirements that you NEED to provide aid if safe and appropriate).

We have a lot of problems in the world that are incredibly complex and expensive to solve. This isn't one of them. Defibrillators are affordable and they work. We should all look around us and see where they are and advocate for them to be placed where they aren't.