Doctors lauded for saving competitor’s life during Kaohsiung Marathon

Kaohsiung, Nov. 27 (CNA) Two doctors who administered life-saving emergency treatment to a fellow runner while they were competing in the Kaohsiung Marathon on Sunday have been praised by the city’s mayor for their “professional” response to the incident.

The incident occurred around the 28-kilometer mark of the 42 km race, when a runner in his 40s suddenly collapsed on the route, suffering what was later diagnosed as cardiac arrest.

Cardiologist Chen Ching-yu (陳璟毓) and anesthesiologist Chuang Wen-ming (莊文銘), who were also competing in the marathon, rushed to the man’s aid.

In a Facebook post, Chuang said he reached the man first and immediately began administering CPR when he checked the runner’s neck and felt no pulse.

Soon after, Chen reached the scene, as well as doctors on the marathon’s medical team, and they joined the efforts to revive the man, using also an automated external defibrillator (AED), which resulted in the runner regaining consciousness, Chuang wrote.

“I told [the man] that he had almost died, and he couldn’t believe it,” Chuang said in the post.

On Monday, Chuang declined CNA’s request for an interview, saying he had only done what any medical professional would have done in that situation.

Chuang said, however, that he hoped the incident had highlighted the importance of people learning basic life support techniques, such as how to recognize cardiac arrest, administer CPR and use an AED machine.

With that knowledge, “anyone can end up being a lifesaver,” he said.

In a separate Facebook post, the cardiologist Chen said that when he saw another doctor attending to the collapsed man, he stopped to see if he could help.

After waiting a few minutes for an AED to arrive, he gave the man a single shock with the device and successfully revived him, Chen said.

Chen said he waited for an ambulance to pick up the man, then he continued the race. Though he ultimately finished well behind his goal of 3 hours and 30 minutes, Chen said, he did not mind, given the circumstances.

“Records can be broken at any time, but if a person doesn’t receive immediate help when their life is in danger, they don’t get a second chance,” he said.

On Sunday night, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) thanked the two doctors for their “cool-headed and professional” response to the emergency, which ended up saving the man’s life.

According to the mayor, Sunday’s marathon was staffed by 130 medical personnel, some of whom arrived within the vital two-minute window after the man went into cardiac arrest, when CPR can still be successful.

(By Lin Chiao-lien and Matthew Mazzetta)

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