Lives Saved At Dublin Airport

In the decade since defibrillation was introduced at Dublin Airport, the Dublin Airport Police and Fire Service have saved the lives of 19 people, who were suffering cardiac arrest at the Airport.

One such person is 85 year old, Jack Healy, who was only too happy to return to the Airport to say thank you to the crew involved in his incident.

Last year, Mr Healy suffered a severe cardiac arrest outside Terminal 2. Within two minutes, members of the Airport Police / Fire Service were on the scene to attend to him. The team quickly assessed that Mr Healy had no pulse and administered the AED (automatic external defibrillation), resuscitating him. The Airport Fire Service ambulance then transported him to Beaumont Hospital where he spent six weeks recovering from the event.

Mr Healy, who is now thankfully back to full health, was accompanied by his family to the Airport Fire Station to make a presentation to the crew, who were involved in his rescue. The family expressed their gratitude to the crew for saving their father’s life.

Last year, three lives were saved through the use of defibrillation at Dublin Airport. Brendan Lavin, Airport Police Fire Officer said, “My colleague, Ken Brown, and I received a call that a passenger had collapsed in Terminal 2. We immediately examined the man, administered CPR and ultimately used AED, which succeeded in getting a pulse. The Airport Fire Service ambulance then transported him to Beaumont Hospital.”

One week later, a woman collapsed in the baggage hall of Terminal 2. Airport Police officer, Trevor Giltrap and Stephen Morris attended to the lady, who also required defibrillation before being transported to hospital.

Dublin Airport has been designated a Heartsafe Airport by the Irish Heart Foundation. This accolade was conferred to members of the Dublin Airport Police and Fire service (APFS) some years back in recognition of their success rate in saving victims of cardiac arrest at the Airport, with the use of Public Access Defibrillation.