There's a hero in the HIVE
An Ayrshire College student has been praised for his quick thinking in performing CPR on a stranger which “undoubtedly saved his life”.
Elliot Hughes had returned to Glasgow Airport on a flight from London on 9 January when he noticed a group of people surrounding a man who had collapsed. Initially thinking he had just fainted, Elliot raced into action when it became apparent things were much more critical than first appeared.
First Elliot checked the man’s pulse, then put him into the recovery position. When his breathing stopped, Elliot immediately began performing CPR until the Airport Duty Safety Team arrived.
Elliot studies at Ayrshire College’s Kilwinning Campus on a course called PEZ Plus, within the College’s HIVE (Hope, Inspiration and Vision in Education) facility. The course is predominantly studied by students looking to boost their confidence.
Glasgow Airport’s Airport Commander wrote to Elliot after the incident.
The letter detailed how “you [Elliot] immediately and without hesitation went to render assistance to a person unknown to you and placed him in the recovery position thinking, initially, it was just a collapse but very quickly realising that he was not breathing, had no pulse, and you began live-saving CPR remembering Army Cadet training you’d previously done.”
It went on to say: “Your actions, alongside that of the Airport Duty Safety Team have undoubtedly saved this man’s life. Please be very proud of what you did and without being dramatic you saved a life by your swift, unselfish and caring actions.
“Thank you for your actions, which restore faith in human nature, that we should treat people the way we would like to be treated ourselves.”
The letter also noted that doctors predict the man to make a good recovery after receiving the medical care he required at hospital.
Elliot, 19 from Irvine, said: “I went over and there was a guy on the phone for an ambulance, but he was saying "they're telling me to check his breathing, but I don't know how to do that". I was first aid trained through the Army Cadets, so I got down, checked his breathing, and he was taking a breath maybe every 30 seconds. So, I put him in the recovery position, but he stopped breathing altogether.
“I flipped him onto his back - someone helped me flip him over – moved his jacket away from his chest and started chest compressions for about 6 minutes until the first responders came from the airport, then a further 2 minutes while they cut off his clothes and attached a defibrillator. I think they shocked him three times until he got a pulse back, and thankfully he was breathing on his own by the time he got in the ambulance.”
Elliot is now encouraging other people to complete their basic first aid training.
Elliot said: “I left the Cadets three years ago, but adrenaline kicked in and I knew I had to do something or else this guy wasn’t going to make it.
“I had done St. John’s Ambulance first aid training which covers the basic but important things like CPR and choking. I never thought I’d have to use CPR but once I was put in that situation it all came flooding back to me.
“It was very hard. While you’re doing it you don’t realise the toll it’s taking on you, emotionally and physically, but when you step back you realise just how exhausted you are.
“It’s 100% worth doing your first aid training or even a refresher course. You honestly never know when you’re going to need it. When you’re put in that situation, you have to get stuck in quickly, you don’t have much time to react. So, it’s good to have it fresh in your mind.”
Elliot aspires to go into youth work but didn’t feel he had the confidence to start a mainstream college course so instead opted for PEZ Plus.
“The PEZ Plus course is really good. I’d like to become a youth worker for children, to give them someone who is always going to support them. I’m applying for a job right now and I would not have had the confidence to do that without starting this course.”
3 February 2022
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