Summerside - Lorna Cairns is thankful to be alive.
Cairns was going through the customer service counter at Sobeys in Summerside, when she suddenly went into cardiac arrest. It's only thanks to quick-thinking staff, the kindness of strangers and an emergency defibrillator that Cairns is still alive.
"It's very emotional," said Cairns, her voice quaking as she fought tears yesterday. "I'm just glad to be here."
Her husband Ben Cairns piped up with, "not near as glad as I am."
Cairns had an emotional reunion with some of her rescuers yesterday at a small ceremony put on by the company that sold Sobeys the defibrillator. Laerdal Medical Canada gave several of the people involved with helping Cairns an Award of Excellence. Recipients were Robyn Fraser, Hazell Bors, Sharon Lamarsh, Andrea Boyle, Olive Richard and Rachelle Gallant.
John Mitchell owns Mitchell's First Aid Services which supplied the device, as well as training in its use to Sobeys.
"One of the reasons why we all gathered here is because we want to promote this out in the community, how important CPR and defibrillation is. How important it is that these (emergency defibrillators) be in every store and ever location in Summerside," said Mitchell.
A spokesperson with Sobeys said that out of concern for the privacy of the persons involved, the company would not comment on specifics. They did say Sobeys requires that at least some working employees to have CPR training at all times. They did not have exact number on how many Sobeys stores are equipped with emergency defibrillators.
As a former paramedic, Mitchell is almost positive that if the store had not had the equipment available Cairns would not have survived.
Fortunately everything turned out all right, he said.
The incident happened on the evening of June 25. Andrea Boyle of Kensington was in the midst of getting her groceries.
"I just heard this God awful noise," said Boyle, describing that when she turned around to see what it was Cairns was laying on the floor.
"I had thought maybe because of the heat she had passed out. After a minute I started hearing noises, gurgling, and I started yelling for someone to call 911," she said.
"I just kept talking to her, telling her I wasn't going to leave her and that the ambulance was on its way."
Staff quickly answered Boyle's call for help, some called 911, others did crowd control. Olive Richard fetched the store's two pharmacists who quickly started CPR.
Richard also retrieved the store's emergency defibrillator.
"I've had training in it," said Richard. "And I just thought when I looked at Lorna 'oh my God she's not good,' and that's when we got it out," she said.
Cairns's rescuers activated the small lunchbox sized machine and followed it's instructions, which was easy considering it has a voice and talks users through a situation. It's even programmed not to deliver a shock to someone with a regular steady heartbeat.
The defibrillator in conjunction with the CPR helped keep Cairns alive for several minutes before Island EMS arrived.
The whole situation lasted little more than six minutes.
Cairns remembers nothing from the time she left her home till she awoke in the hospital. She spent a few days at the Prince County Hospital before being transferred to Halifax for a week.
It wasn't until she was home when the incident seem to hit her, she said.
"When I came home from Halifax I noticed how much the trees are growing and how much the potatoes were growing in the fields ... what a difference everything was so green. It's wonderful," she said, tears coming down her cheeks.
good job girls