A South Surrey security guard has been recognized as a hero after his quick action is credited with saving the life of a senior at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre.
Cameron Hubley – in the presence of Pamela Morgan, 82 – received the BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) Vital Link Award last week. The award was created to honour the “skilful actions” of one or more bystanders at a cardiac arrest emergency.
Hubley was working at the mall last March when he was alerted to a collapsed woman.
“The moment they gave me the call, I turned around and I could see her on the ground,” Hubley told Peace Arch News Tuesday. “I knew something was really bad since she wasn’t moving. I started sprinting towards her.”
Morgan had suffered a heart attack. Hubley said that when he arrived, she was bleeding from her head and turning blue.
“When the heart attack happened, she immediately went backwards into the floor and hit her head. I made sure my crew got me the med kits. Her face was going blue, no breath was coming out. There was basically no pulse,” Hubley said, noting he directed a bystander to get a nearby defibrillator.
“I started doing chest compressions, made sure that I kept that going on until the AED machine (defibrillator) came by.”
Once it arrived, Hubley directed a bystander to continue CPR while he set up the machine.
“Once the AED machine read that she needed a shock, I immediately did it once it was ready,” he said.
Paramedics arrived shortly and took over. Morgan was rushed to hospital – with a pulse – and given life-saving surgery.
“I was a little unnerved afterwards,” Hubley told PAN. “The next day, I was wondering what happened to her. But eventually, I was notified that she was OK and that she was alive.”
After Morgan recovered, she took Hubley out for dinner to White Spot.
“She was completely grateful to me when we met,” Hubley said. “We sat down and talked about the incident and everything else. She bought the dinner just to thank me.”
Morgan’s daughter, Donna, said the family will never be able to thank Hubley enough.
“I got to say, the first time I got to see him, I went down to the mall to thank him. I actually bursted in tears and I couldn’t talk,” Donna said. “If the heart attack happened anywhere else. It could have happened at home with my dad, she might not have survived it.”
Donna said it was the first time her mother had a heart attack, and encouraged everyone to take CPR training.
The Morgan family submitted a letter to the editor to PAN last March, thanking both Hubley and “the fact that the mall has an automated external defibrillator on site.”
According to BCEHS, for every minute that passes without help, a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest drops by about 10 per cent.
Hubley was named the Vital Link recipient, the primary care paramedic team included Jason Fenrich and Mark Rayfield. The acute care paramedic team included Iku Yeh and Andrea Massey.
The award was presented by ambulance unit chief Andrew Billing.
