Domino the Dog thanks team who saved his owner’s life

A man who received life-saving care after suffering a cardiac arrest on Valentine’s Day has visited the team at East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) who saved his life and brought along special guest of honour – the family dog, Domino.   

When Rick Ecott contacted EEAST assistant general manager, Craig Borrett, to say he wanted to visit the team to express his gratitude for saving his life, the crews involved in his care asked if Domino could also visit as he had created quite an impression during the 3am emergency.     

Rick’s wife Jayne called 999 after he awoke with noisy breathing – and later fell unconscious. The paramedics arrived to find Rick, 56, in cardiac arrest with Jayne providing CPR.

Domino the dog was understandably frantic as the crew took over CPR and administered shocks with a defibrillator to save Rick’s life at the family home in Wootton, Bedfordshire.

After 20 minutes Rick’s circulation came back - and Domino soon settled down and provided much love and affection to everyone.

Advanced practitioner Steven Langridge, and paramedic Eloise Murphy and emergency medical technician David Bottrill were pleased to see Rick doing so well when he recently visited Kempston Ambulance Station with Jayne and their two children, Aidan and Jake.

Tracey Brookes, the call handler who took the emergency call and talked Jayne through how to perform CPR, was also able to be present via videocall to speak to the family.

Leading operations manager Caroline Dilley and colleagues from Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, who attended the callout, also played a part in Rick’s good outcome.

After his condition was stabilised, Rick was transported to Bedford South Wing Hospital for further treatment and assessment. He has since been referred to the Royal Papworth Hospital to be fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) which detects life-threatening heartbeats and sends an electrical shock to change the heartbeat back to normal.

Rick said: “It’s a debt I know I can never repay but to be able to meet these professionals in person means a great deal to me.”

“Thanks to their work, my two boys still have their father and I can continue to be a husband to Jayne.”

Tracey Brookes said: “As call handlers, we often don’t hear of any outcome, so it has been really nice to be able to witness such an amazing outcome for Rick and talk through the process of call handling and the life-saving CPR instructions we can give.”

Wednesday 8th June 2022