When a teammate collapsed on the ice of McNabb Arena during a recent Saturday afternoon hockey game, goalie Dave Wardle quickly recognized the signs of cardiac arrest.



The player, a defenceman, was on the ice with his arms splayed to his side. He was not moving.



Wardle, 57, had been in a similar position just three years earlier: He suffered a cardiac event during a game at Walkley Arena and went into full arrest as he was being wheeled out of the rink by paramedics.



“I knew what had happened because it happened to me,” Wardle explained in an interview. “It wasn’t quite in that fashion, but it happened to me three years ago. So I knew exactly what was going on.”



Wardle had seen his teammate skate in a tight circle and collapse while there was a scramble near the opposite net. The defenceman was behind the play, near the blueline, so most players didn’t notice he was down until the play went back in his direction.



At first, some thought he might be clowning around. But Wardle knew better.



Skating down the ice, he yelled at those on the bench to call 911 and to get the “defib,” the automated external defibrillator (AED). Wardle put his ear to his teammate’s chest to listen for a heartbeat. “There was nothing in him,” Wardle said. “There was no breathing, no pulse.”



Another player, Mike Coulombe, said Wardle appealed for anyone who knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). No one put up a hand so Wardle, who had taken some CRP training while in hospital recovering from his own heart attack, began to do compressions.



He kept pumping the downed player’s chest as the rink attendant arrived with the emergency defibrillator.



There are more than 1,000 defibrillators stationed in the city’s arenas, libraries, community centres and emergency vehicles. The devices have helped rescue 120 people since being introduced in 2000, according to J.P. Trottier, a spokesman for the Ottawa Paramedic Service, which manages the city’s public access defibrillator (PAD) program.



The rink attendant at McNabb, a new employee, was the only one who knew how to work the device, a key link in what is sometimes called the “chain of survival.” It’s vital that sudden cardiac arrest victims receive CPR and defibrillation quickly since it can take paramedics six minutes or more to respond to a high priority call. The chances of survival drop by 10 per cent for every minute victims go untreated.



An electric shock from the defibrillator reset the man’s heartbeat. Paramedics arrived moments later.



“I was stunned how many people didn’t know what to do,” Wardle said. “I think people are afraid to make a mistake. But I looked at it differently: I thought, ‘If I don’t do something, this guy’s not going to make it.'”



Coulombe praised both Wardle and the female rink attendant for their actions on Nov. 19th, and appealed to more hockey players to learn CPR and familiarize themselves with rinkside defibrillators. “The incident was a real eye-opener for our team,” he said.



The defenceman, in his early 60s, remains in hospital.



Meanwhile, his team is working with the Prescott Hockey League to arrange for CPR and defibrillator training for all interested players. “Everyone should know it,” said Wardle.