Letter: Emergency response time questioned

Dear Editor, I am an American living at Te Manava Resort and I was involved in the lifesaving efforts of the man who tragically died at the Pacific resort on Sunday morning (Potential factors may have contributed to tourist drowning, Cook Islands News, July 2). Here are my thoughts.

My wife and I arrived at the Beach Restaurant at Pacific Resort for lunch around 11am. People were swimming and it seemed like a normal day. Around 11:10am we heard a commotion on the beach and stood up from our table to see what was going on. A man in his 40s or 50s grabbed the victim. I rushed to the beach to help.

The victim was unconscious from the moment he reached the beach. Another man immediately began chest compressions as we worked to clear his airway. Within two minutes, emergency services were called. Another man with an AED continued CPR.

Other guests with more medical experience arrived on the scene. At this point, I stepped back to make room for the more experienced people. As far as I know, the AED did not defibrillate the victim because the AED kept saying “No pulse detected; continue CPR.”

Local medical personnel (what we call ambulances and paramedics in the US) did not arrive until at least 11:45 a.m., more than half an hour after the first call. It was not until noon or 12:15 p.m. that the paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene and notified the victim’s wife, who unfortunately witnessed the tragic event.

I would like to emphasize in particular that nearly 20 guests who were vacationing there at the time immediately took action to rescue the victim and tried to revive him.

I read your article and while potential complications may have contributed to the drowning, it should also be considered that the emergency services were very slow to respond.

It is so difficult to see this happen. Our prayers go out to the victim’s family.

Thank you for allowing me to share.

(Provide name and address)

reply – The hospital received a call at 11:20 a.m. about a drowning at Pacific Resort, and the ambulance was dispatched at 11:22 a.m. The ambulance arrived at Pacific Resort at 11:40 a.m., attended to the victim with a stretcher and medical bag, and returned to the ambulance at 11:45 a.m. before departing for the hospital. The case has been referred to the coroner.

The response time was considered to be within the expected response time given the distance between the hospital and Pacific Resort.

Bob Williams

Sanitation Committee