A woman who was part of the rescue effort told the Herald she was given an incorrect access code to open the defibrillator lock box, which was not a St John-owned AED. <\/p>\n
\u201cSeconds do matter. I felt anguish that I couldn\u2019t access the defibrillator,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The man could not be saved despite the efforts of emergency services and bystanders. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Hato Hone St John Integrated Operations Centre manager for primary triage and dispatch, John-Michael Swannix, said St John believes public AEDs should be easy to access in a medical emergency.<\/p>\n
He said St John prefers they are not locked, similar to fire extinguishers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this situation, the AED was in a locked box and the 111 caller was given a generic code, but this particular AED, which is not one of our own, has its own unique code that was unfortunately not found in our system during the call,\u201d Swannix said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe apologise for the distress this may have caused. We are making changes to our system and process following this incident to minimise the risk of it happening again when an AED is locked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swannix said the organisation is proud of its ambulance staff, who responded rapidly to the emergency and arrived on the scene around the time the caller was asking for the code. <\/p>\n
Defibrillator code mishap <\/p>\n
The woman said she had just got into her car to leave the beach at midday when she saw a kite surfer\u2019s foiler smash into the shallow water. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a bit of a commotion. I could see a few people get up and go running towards the shallows,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The woman said she had spotted the defibrillator earlier in the day and decided to rush and grab it, just in case it was needed. <\/p>\n
\u201cI went as fast as I could to get it. When I got there, it said dial 111 for the access code, which I did.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said once she was put through to St John, she was allegedly told the organisation didn\u2019t have a code for the specific defibrillator in question. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you\u2019re s***ting me. This is exactly the scenario these can help in, they\u2019re not for decoration,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cTime was ticking. It felt like a long time, because there were no emergency services on the scene yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
A man died at Takapuna Beach on Monday after he was spotted unresponsive in the water. Photo \/ Corey Fleming <\/p>\n
She said from where the defibrillator was she could see people working on the man, just metres away. <\/p>\n
She was then told she could be given the \u201cskeleton code\u201d to try but there was no guarantee it would work. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was really calm and breathed deeply to make sure that I was accurate with punching the PIN code correctly, even with urgency.\u201d <\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it was the incorrect code. <\/p>\n
She was told that\u2019s all she could do, the ambulance was on the way, and then the call was disconnected.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to give up,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at the statistics of the difference that a defib can make in a short space of time, depending on the situation of the person, it could have made a difference, and it should have been accessible,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
To improve the situation, the woman said she believed the operator could have put her on hold and called the company that owned the AED for the code and kept her on the line. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy fear is that I could have potentially got a defibrillator on the scene before emergency services arrived, and maybe that would have made a difference, and I will never know,\u201d the woman said. <\/p>\n
The woman said defibrillators were \u201cincredible things\u201d that the public should be more aware of, and emphasised that this incident isn\u2019t about assigning blame, but about ensuring it doesn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that the family know everyone did everything they could to help, that they have the whole community\u2019s condolences.\u201d<\/p>\n