A man camping at the Ocean View Reserve on Monday was rushed to Dunedin Hospital in a critical condition at 8.20am after he stopped breathing following a fall from his van.
Fortunately, a nearby German tourist was a trained medic and a pair of road policing officers were up the road with an automated external defibrillator (AED) on board, police said.
‘‘[He was] three times lucky - lucky the German tourist was a first responder, lucky there were officers really close nearby to help and lucky they had an AED in the car.’’
The German tourist was also camping at the reserve when she noticed the man lying on the ground next to his van bleeding from his head after a fall.
She began speaking to him but he lost consciousness.
Police said the German tourist, who was a fire and ambulance first responder in her home country, applied first aid.
Meanwhile, nearby in Brighton Rd, Constable Peyton Fields and road policing Senior Constable Andy Camp were conducting laser speed checks on passing vehicles.
A second tourist at the scene saw the pair and raced to tell them what was going on.
When Const Fields and Snr Const Camp arrived soon after, the man had stopped breathing.
‘‘The German tourist began CPR [and] one of the police officers assisted with compressions,’’ police said.
The officers grabbed the AED from the patrol car and used it on the man.
‘‘Following that shock, the officer and the German tourist continued CPR until an ambulance arrived shortly after to take over.’’
Paramedics got a pulse back, police said.
A Hato Hone St John spokesman said they then took the man to Dunedin Hospital in a critical condition.
