An 83-year-old man lay unconscious, not breathing, and had no pulse at Burns Field at 11:48 a.m., yesterday, near Salt Pond Beach Park. The man was awake and talking to medics twenty minutes later as American Medical Response personnel were
An 83-year-old man lay unconscious, not breathing, and had no pulse at Burns Field at 11:48 a.m., yesterday, near Salt Pond Beach Park.
The man was awake and talking to medics twenty minutes later as American Medical Response personnel were transporting him in an ambulance to Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea.
Kaua‘i Fire Department ocean safety officers had brought him back to life.
The man, apparently a visitor from Arizona, was pulled unconscious from the water when his wife noticed he wasn’t moving while snorkeling, according to information heard on a police scanner radio band.
“The victim was standing in the water one to two minutes before being found,” said KFD Battalion Chief Bob Kaden. When his wife noticed him, she and another bystander pulled him to the beach and lifeguards responded.
At 11:52 a.m., lifeguards called emergency dispatch to inform them they were doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), according to information over the scanner.
After a minute to a minute and a half of CPR, the visitor’s’ “breathing spontaneously returned,” said Kaden.
KFD medics responded, with AMR right behind. They put the man on a backboard and whisked him to Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital.
The man, who has a history of heart trouble, was able to answer questions by 12:15 p.m.
The cause of the incident, according to Kaden, was near-drowning.
Staff writer Tom Finnegan can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226)
