Defibrillator call by daughter who saved her own mother's life

Rachel Hallas always wanted to be a paramedic but she had no idea when it came to putting her life-saving skills to the test that her mother would be one of her first patients.

Now Rachel and colleagues at Kostal UK in Goldthorpe, Rotherham, where she and her mother Ellen work, have received commendations for helping to save the 50-year-old’s life.

Yesterday, Rachel received a special award from Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) after a workplace defibrillator was used to help restart Ellen’s heart.

Now YAS and the Hallas family are urging all workplaces to get the life-saving piece of equipment.

“I feel very proud to get the award, but far more importantly I am just happy that mum is still with us,” says Rachel, 25.

Ellen, from Thurnscoe, collapsed while working on the electronic production line on the last day of work before Christmas last December when everyone was in a festive mood.

She works on the line where Rachel is her team leader.

“I looked round the corner and saw that mum was on the floor and I thought ‘that’s not right’. Then when I went over, someone had put her in the recovery position, but then I realised
she wasn’t breathing,” recalls Rachel.

“My first thought was that
his was my mum and she
might die, but then my training kicked in and I went into autopilot.”

Rachel is a Community First Responder with Yorkshire Ambulance Service as well as a trained first aider, and she quickly realised she needed to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in an attempt to save her mother’s life.

“Someone then went to get the defibrillator and together we attached it to mum. I kept thinking ‘don’t die, don’t die’ but I just kept going.”

Rachel then spoke on the phone to the ambulance service and as she was speaking to
them it suddenly hit her that it was her mum she was talking about. “When I said it was mum they asked to speak to someone else, but we kept the CPR. But she had gone purple by then and I was very afraid we were going to lose her.” As a colleagues Gavin Haynes and Paul Saunders helped activate the defibrillator, Rachel was giving her mum mouth-to- mouth resuscitation.

“I couldn’t believe it when she started to breathe again,” says Rachel, who lives at home.

The ambulance crew arrived shortly afterwards, although Rachel said it felt like ages,
to continue Ellen’s care before taking her to Barnsley Hospital.

She was found to have a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy .

She was transferred to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield and spent five weeks in hospital, including Christmas Day, where she was joined by her 
family. Ellen now has an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) which, in the event of cardiac arrest, automatically delivers a shock to help restart the heart.

“She doesn’t remember anything about it,” says Rachel. “She remembers being on the production line and then waking up in hospital with one sock on, a cut bra and no trousers on wondering what had happened to her.” Yesterday was the first time that Ellen had been back to work since she collapsed.

“I am in awe of the people who saved my life; I can’t thank them enough. It shows how important it is for workplaces to have defibrillators on their premises because without the kit at Kostal and the efforts of my daughter and colleagues who did CPR, I wouldn’t be here today,” says Ellen. Rachel has been a volunteer Community First Responder for Yorkshire Ambulance Service in her area for two years but
prior to this occasion had only used a defibrillator on one patient.

“When I began as a Community First Responder I didn’t know if I would be able to attempt CPR on anyone, never mind a close family member. I’m really glad I had those skills and knew what to do as I don’t think my mum would still be here if I hadn’t.”

Emma Scott, Community Defibrillation Officer at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “Rachel and her colleagues thoroughly deserve recognition for saving Ellen’s life through excellent bystander CPR and the use of a defibrillator. Rachel’s swift action, calmness and bravery when faced with the collapse of her own mother are things she should be incredibly proud of. A combination of early CPR and defibrillation can dramatically increase a cardiac arrest patient’s chance of survival, and her mum is testament to this.”

Gary Webley, Facilities Manager at Kostal UK, who is responsible for health and safety at the firm, said: “All credit should go to Rachel and all our employees who were involved in helping to save Ellen’s life. As a result of this incident Kostal intends to purchase more defibrillators to ensure the continued safety of our workforce.” Now Rachel and Ellen have joined YAS to urge more employers to invest in defibrillators.

“All too often companies and sports clubs come to me to ask about defibrillators when someone has died, which is very frustrating,” says Emma.

“I would like to see it mandatory for larger workplaces to have defibrillators, like we have to have fire extinguishers which are never used. For
every minute someone is not breathing it is 10 per cent less likely that they will survive.

“First aider courses include training on using the defibrillator but you don’t need to have specialist training and people shouldn’t worry, the machine won’t give the patient an electric shock unless
they have gone into cardiac arrest.”

Rachel believes that the defibrillator saved her mother’s life. “I truly believe if we
 hadn’t had the workplace defibrillator my mum would
not be here today. I think it is great that Kostal are investing
in three more machines
which could save even more lives.” Rachel says rather than putting her off being a paramedic it has made her even more determined to follow her
 dreams.

Ellen Hallas is the third patient to be resuscitated using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) provided by the Rotherham Heart Town initiative: a British Heart Foundation project aimed at improving heart health.

The scheme has seen 14 of Rotherham’s largest employers, including Kostal UK, receiving a free AED. THE initiative was co-funded by the British Heart Foundation and Westfield Health, a not-for-profit health and wellbeing company which has donated 113 AEDs across South Yorkshire over the last 14 years. All the project partners are thrilled that the AED had been used successfully.

For more information about the Heart Town initiative visit www.bhf.org.uk