bendigo, paramedic, saves own life, heart attack, casterton, victoria

MULTI-TASKING has proven to be a life-saving skill for an on-duty paramedic. David Watson is recovering after suffering a major heart attack while on the job in Casterton. Mr Watson was the sole paramedic on duty when the heart attack hit. "I was just warming up to do a workout, and just got the sudden onset of crushing chest pain and tingles down both arms,” he said. “So I quickly rushed in, I grabbed the heart monitor from the ambulance, put myself on it and thought, uh oh, that's not right’." The ECG reading told Mr Watson he was in the midst of having a major heart attack. He drove himself the 100 metres from the ambulance station to the Casterton Hospital. An ambulance helicopter was called from Bendigo, which airlifted him to Geelong Hospital. A clot was found in the 52-year-old’s large coronary arteries. He was operated on immediately, with a stent put in. Mr Watson was kept on the wards for five days and has spent the past four days continuing his recovery at home. He expects to be off work for the next two months.

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