A BUNBURY woman has urged the community to book in for first-aid training immediately after she was first on the scene at an emergency on Thursday.
Jen Stevens and her friend were returning to their car at the Centrepoint car park about midday when they saw a man having a seizure behind the wheel.
The man passed out and his car crashed into two other vehicles.
Mrs Stevens said she tried to get to the driver’s side and was knocked down by the moving vehicle.
When the car hit a pole and came to a stop she opened the door and the man collapsed out of his seat.
“I screamed for help because I don’t have first aid training and wasn’t sure what to do,” Mrs Stevens said.
“Four men immediately rushed over, laid the man on his back and found out he wasn’t breathing.
“They began to resuscitate him and he started breathing but stopped again before the ambulance arrived.”
The shopping centre's security staff was contacted to bring a defibrillator to the scene.
Security officer Michael Head said the centre had installed the emergency device just three weeks earlier after another close call.
"It's the first time we have had to use the defibrillator - I brought it out and we were able to revive the man, it worked wonders," Mr Head said.
Mrs Stevens said the experience was terrifying but it had given her a wake-up call.
“I had been meaning to book a first-aid training course for ages but hadn’t got around to it – this goes to show that anything could happen and you could be the only one around to help,” she said.
Mrs Stevens has visited the man in hospital and said doctors had not confirmed that he had suffered a heart attack, as previously reported, and were still working to find the cause of his collapse.
She said he was doing well and thanked everyone who was on the scene to help.
South West Traffic acting officer in charge Robert Malcolm said police will treat the crashes as a result of the medical incident and charges will not be laid.
To book a St John first-aid training course in Bunbury, contact 9791 4999.
