THUNDER BAY — A city police officer was recognized for saving a man’s life after he collapsed and stopped breathing and says administering first aid in time was crucial.
Const. Paul Kainulainen was awarded a life-saving award from St. John Ambulance at the May meeting of the Thunder Bay Police Service Board on Tuesday morning. Kainulainen, who has been an officer with the police force since May 2010, was off duty on Dec. 18 last year when he was finishing shopping at the Walmart on Arthur Street and saw several people around an elderly man, who was lying on his back near the entrance.
According to a summary of the incident presented to the police board as part of the ceremony by board secretary John Hannam, the man wasn’t breathing, and didn't have a pulse, and while another bystander was calling 911, Kainulainen started administering CPR and updated medical dispatch via the person on the phone.
After a store employee arrived with a defibrillator, he applied it and continued CPR until medical help and on-duty police arrived. The man started breathing on his own and was alive when he arrived at the hospital.
“It was great that somebody had already called 911 and I was just in the right place at the right time to be able to start CPR until paramedics were able to arrive,” Kainulainen told reporters.
The man was reportedly 97 years old when the incident happened.
“We're supposed to, if we see something going on that involves the police or should be involving the police — if we're off duty — if we're able to interact at that time, we should be doing that,” he said. “Again, I was just in the right place at the right time for this.”
Lorne Clifford, the board chair for St. John Ambulance in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, as well as a retired Thunder Bay police inspector, presented the award, and said having life-saving skills is important for anyone to have.
“We're very proud of the work that goes behind the scenes and the development of the training and the delivery of that training,” he said of the first aid programming the organization provides.
Kainulainen said skills like this can come in handy any time.
“I encourage everybody, if they don't have it, they're going to have people in their lives that are going through medical events and sometimes it takes emergency services a little bit of time to get there,” he said.
“So, it's nice to have some training where you can help out until the paramedics arrive in that situation.”
Clifford said this situation perfectly demonstrated that.
“This is a perfect example of a young police officer stepping up and doing exactly what they were asked to do,” he said. “The heart of a volunteer is immense, and a person called to service always will honour that service.”
