Crunch meeting with ambulance bosses to be held over response times

A WOMAN was reported to be in a serious but stable condition tonight after medical teams managed to restart her heart after she suffered a cardiac arrest.

A doctor from the emergency medical charity, Suffolk Accident Rescue Service was sent to the incident at an address in Lakenheath just before 7pm.

A 57-year-old woman had suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed at her home. Her husband and a neighbour had started initial CPR with the help of directions from the 999 call handler.

First to arrive on the scene was a paramedic in an rapid response vehicle followed by an ambulance crew from Newmarket and the volunteer SARS doctor.

The woman’s heart was restarted with a defibrillator and the paramedics and SARS doctor worked for over an hour to resuscitate her.

She was then transferred to the West Suffolk Hospital where she is in a serious but stable condition.

Dr Andrew Mason, the SARS doctor who attended the incident, said: “It was a real team effort from everybody involved, from the husband and neighbour giving the initial CPR, which is crucial in the chain of survival, right through to the transfer to hospital.”