Six honoured by SCDF for providing timely help

Bukit View Secondary student Darryl Lee was at home on July 10 when the myResponder app on his phone alerted him to an incident nearby.

When the 16-year-old reached the scene, he saw other first responders attending to an elderly man lying on the ground at a hawker centre at Block 279 Bukit Batok East Avenue 3. The man had suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed.

Performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was Dr Bernard Cheong, 63, who had been alerted by passers-by to the situation and rushed over from his nearby clinic.

A nurse from the clinic, Ms Wong Lay Hoon, 54, assisted Dr Cheong by performing chest compressions.

Dr Cheong used an automated external defibrillator (AED) on the man, who had an irregular heartbeat.

He also instructed Darryl to assist with administering oxygen supply using an oxygen tank and mask they had brought from the clinic.

When an ambulance arrived, Darryl guided paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to the scene where they took over from the first responders.

Darryl said: "After the ambulance came and the paramedics took over, I felt a sense of relief that all of us had come together to help save this man's life."

For their efforts, Dr Cheong, Ms Wong and Darryl were among six people presented with the Community Lifesaver Award by the SCDF yesterday at the 4th SCDF Division Headquarters in Bukit Batok.

In a separate incident on Oct 11, retiree Goh Boon Hong, 65, was roused from his afternoon nap by his next-door neighbour pounding on the door of his home in Block 440 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8.

Answering her frantic calls for help, Mr Goh hurried after her barefoot and shirtless, and realised a fire was raging in her kitchen.

He ran back to his second-floor unit and grabbed a personal fire extinguisher to fight the blaze. When it became empty, he used a fire hose reel from the lift lobby to continue putting out the fire.

Mr Goh was joined by Mr Tan Huat Seng, 58, and Mr Nur Hidayat Mahmod, 30.

Mr Hidayat, who lives three blocks away and was headed out with his family to buy groceries, said: "We were walking at the void deck when my son noticed people in the opposite block taking photos with their phones and told me.

"That was when I went out, looked up and saw the fire."

The three men took turns to put out the fire and were part of at least four community first responders who helped put out the fire before SCDF firefighters arrived.

Mr Goh, Mr Tan and Mr Hidayat also received the Community Lifesaver Award yesterday.

Mr Hidayat, who is an operationally ready national serviceman with the SCDF, said he was receiving the award on behalf of his wife, who had dialled 995, and the others who helped put out the fire.

Dr Cheong hoped more young people would come forward to learn about first aid and how to do CPR. "In a situation like this, you need as many trained people to help continue with the chest compressions as one first responder cannot sustain it for a long enough period to help the patient."

For Darryl, the incident was his first time responding to an alert from the myResponder app and to an incident of this nature.

He said: "This experience has given me a lot more confidence to take charge in similar situations."