Jordan Hunter’s day began with a start at Xylem Water’s Throsk depo in Stirling, Scotland. It was unsettling to find his work van unlocked and wide open. It was even more startling to discover his coworker and good friend Scott MacLanachan quietly standing in the dark storage area.

“I had quite a fright,” Jordan explains. “Scott felt like he was having a panic attack, so he jumped into my van to find some quiet.”

Jordan left Scott in the van and went to let their manager, Lisa Johnstone, know that the two were going for a walk around the industrial estate to help Scott regulate his breathing.

When I came to, I didn’t know what had happened. AEDs really do save lives.

— Scott MacLanachan, SCA survivor

An emergency unfolds

Concerned about her colleague, Lisa headed to Jordan’s van to check on Scott. When she arrived, she found him on his knees having what appeared to be a seizure.

“I grabbed him under his arms and somehow managed to get him onto the ground—all the while screaming for help,” recalls Lisa.

Jordan returned to the van and together they got Scott into the recovery position.

When they realised he was experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, they turned him onto his back. “We checked for a pulse but couldn’t detect one,” explains Jordan.

Jordan rang 999 and ran back to the office to get more help. A colleague began cardiopulmonary resuscitation while Lisa delivered rescue breaths. Someone brought an automated external defibrillator (AED) from the office.

Following the real-time guidance from the ZOLL® AED Plus® defibrillator and the instructions from the emergency operator, Lisa and her colleagues attached the electrodes to Scott’s chest. The AED analysed Scott’s heart rhythm, delivered a shock, and instructed the rescuers to continue CPR.

“The AED shocked Scott’s heart four times before the ambulance arrived,” Lisa recalls.

“Everything just went so fast. It was like a blur,” explains Jordan. “I can remember an adrenaline rush and my body shaking. I tried my best to follow the orders from the paramedics on the phone.”

A long road to recovery

Emergency responders rushed Scott to a local hospital before transferring him to Glasgow Hospital in Edinburgh. He underwent emergency surgery to implant a stent in one of his coronary arteries, remaining in a coma for 12 days.

Jordan visited his close friend every day at the hospital and watched as his condition improved. “When I came to, I didn’t know what had happened. The last thing I remembered was asking to take a walk,” recalls Scott.

Scott is very grateful to those who came to his aid that day. The experience has given him a keen understanding of the impact a bystander with an AED can have. “AEDs really do save lives,” he explains.

And it has had a lasting effect on the rescuers involved, as well. Jordan has since undergone complete first aid and CPR training and offers this advice for those who find themselves in similar situations. “Stay calm, assess the situation, breathe and phone 999 as quickly as you can. Follow orders exactly from paramedics until help arrives.”