George Loupis woke up one day not feeling well. Nonetheless, the 51-year-old resident of Sydney, Australia, went about his day, starting with a visit to his niece’s kids. While there, he noticed that the family cat, who was typically skittish and who tended to avoid people, followed him around and kept rubbing against him.
“It was the freakiest thing; she was rubbing up against me. I thought nothing of it at the time,” Loupis later recalled, wondering in retrospect if the cat may have sensed that something was about to happen to him.
Loupis, an active member of a soccer league for men over 45, had a game scheduled for later that day. Despite feeling off, he was looking forward to enjoying a match with his friends. Everything went well at first — he even scored a goal 15 minutes into the game. Immediately afterward, however, the “off” feeling intensified, and he started to feel numb. Loupis went to the sidelines and asked to be substituted off the field to rest.
That’s when Loupis suffered a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
Get together either with workmates, with family, whoever; just drag ‘em along and do a first aid course. If you retain 30 percent of whatever you learn on that day, 30 percent might save someone’s life.
— Bobby Dunimagloski, SCA rescuer
“I sort of went to the side, lay down, and I don’t remember anything after that,” Loupis said. “Apparently, I started snoring, which was a bit strange. And then I started going blue in the face and foaming at the mouth.”
A crowd of players quickly gathered around Loupis, including 49-year-old Bobby Dunimagloski, who had first aid training. Dunimagloski pushed his way to the center of the crowd to see what was wrong and if he could help.
“So I just jumped in there and started asking questions,” Dunimagloski explained. “For those who don’t know the symptoms of someone having a cardiac arrest, it’s hard to know what’s happening in the moment.”
While Dunimagloski tried to assess the problem and get a response from Loupis, other players called emergency services and grabbed the ZOLL automated external defibrillator (AED). Fortuitously, the team had purchased the device two years prior on Loupis’ own recommendation and brought it to every game. Following the device’s instructions, Dunimagloski lifted Loupis’ jersey up and applied the pads to his chest.
“Then the machine just took over,” Dunimagloski explained. “It said, ‘Don’t touch patient, analysing.’ We all moved back from George and then the unit said, ‘Shock will be delivered in 3, 2, 1.’”
Dunimagloski started to administer CPR, listening closely to the AED as it coached him with phrases like “push harder” and “good compressions.”
Soon thereafter, someone who had been notified of the situation by the GoodSAM Responder app arrived to offer help and eventually took over compressions until paramedics arrived.
Loupis recovered, thanks to his teammate’s quick action and the clear instructions provided by the ZOLL AED.
“It doesn’t matter what age you are — if you’re playing any sort of sport, go and get your heart checked,” Loupis said. “That’s first and foremost. And second, if you’re playing in a team sport with a certain number of players, invest in [an AED].”
“Take a first aid course,” Dunimagloski added. “Get together either with workmates, with family, whoever; just drag ‘em along and do a first aid course. If you retain 30 percent of whatever you learn on that day, 30 percent might save someone’s life.”