"Was already completely blue"

Police officers saved a man’s life at a rest stop

Heroes of the day: Markus A. and Christoph M. from the Seewalchen highway patrol(Bild: LPD Oberösterreich)

Two police officers became lifesavers while refuelling: Markus A. and Christoph M. from the Seewalchen freeway police were filling up their service car at the Mondsee service station when they were called to help by a passer-by with the words "Help, he can't breathe". 

"We were standing at the gas pump when a man excitedly asked us for help in English," says Markus A. about the dramatic events that took place on Saturday evening at the highway service area in Mondsee in Upper Austria. The two police officers immediately ran to a grass verge around 400 meters away, where a person was lying motionless on the ground.

Rescuing defibrillator
"The man was already completely blue and wasn't breathing," says the police officer. "A doctor who happened to be there and her husband were already with him and started resuscitation." One of the officers immediately ran back to the police car and fetched the defibrillator that was there.

Heroes of the day: Markus A. and Christoph M. from the Seewalchen highway patrol(Bild: LPD Oberösterreich)

Emergency doctor stabilized patient
"We took turns giving chest compressions and artificial respiration, then continued with the defibrillator," says Markus A. (27). After around ten minutes, the emergency doctor arrived and was able to stabilize the Swiss man. The officers found heart medication in the passenger seat of his car, suggesting that the man had a heart condition.

Flown to hospital
The rescue helicopter took the 66-year-old Swiss man to hospital in Wels for further treatment. "According to the emergency doctor, it will take 72 hours to find out whether he will survive," said the lifesaver.