MULTI-TASKING has proven to be a life-saving skill for a paramedic on duty in the south-west.
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David Watson is recovering after suffering a major heart attack while on the job in Casterton.
Mr Watson said he 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,” Mr Watson 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 last four days continuing his recovery at home.
He expects to be off work for the next two months.
I grabbed the heart monitor from the ambulance, put myself on it and thought, uh oh, that's not right.
- David Watson
