Gatwick staff save life.

A team of dedicated London Gatwick staff were recently  thanked by a passenger for saving his life after he went into cardiac arrest at the airport.

Passenger Eddie Barnes was travelling through London Gatwick’s North Terminal security area on 24 October at 4.20am bound for Spain when he suddenly went into a cardiac arrest. A total of 12 staff from security, passenger operations and the London Gatwick Fire Service immediately responded and gave life-saving CPR.

Between them they gave Eddie CPR for more than 15 minutes and used a defibrillator to restart his heart before he was  ambulanced to hospital.

All passenger operations staff at London Gatwick are provided with first aid at work training, including CPR. 

Fully recovered he has returned to the airport to thank all concerned

 “The cardiac arrest that I suffered must be the most profound experience for myself and those close to me and yet had the team at London Gatwick not successfully applied CPR, I would never have known a thing about it.

“I had absolutely no warning when it happened, I simply dropped dead. I am told that for more than 15 minutes CPR was applied in the course of which I received 16 broken ribs and the paddles were applied five times (and once more in the ambulance).

“The heart surgeon informed me the number of ribs broken bears testimony to how well the CPR was applied. It is hard work applying CPR and I will be eternally grateful to the team for not giving up. Strangely the experience has not left me with any psychological hang-ups. By the time I knew what had happened it was too late to worry and I have every confidence that the team at St Thomas's who supported me after I left Gatwick have dealt with the problem to prevent a recurrence.”

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