Yellow Wiggle Greg Page’s brush with death has prompted health experts to call for more investment in the defibrillators that saved his life.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said more money needed to be spent on the devices to prevent tragedies from occurring.
Page went into cardiac arrest during a concert in Sydney performed to raise money for bushfire relief on Friday before an off-duty nurse saved his life.
Experts say that without the use of Castle Hill RSL’s public access defibrillator, it is likely that Page would have died.
Page had allegedly complained of feeling unwell to his band-mates after performing on stage for around an hour, WA today reported.
Yellow Wiggle Greg Page’s (front centre) brush with death has prompted health experts to call for more investment in the defibrillators that saved his life
Grace Jones (pictured) 23, saved Page’s life as the off-duty nurse volunteered from the audience and performed CPR along with Steve Pace, the Wiggle’s drummer and Kimmy Antonelli, a band staff member
Following his collapse, Page remains in a stable but serious condition in Westmead Hospital, where he had surgery to have a stent inserted into his heart.
In 2006, he revealed he was suffering from orthostatic intolerance, which caused problems with the function of his heart when he was standing, he left The Wiggles due to this poor health but returned in 2012.
Grace Jones, 23, the off-duty nurse who bravely swooped in from the audience, perfomed CPR using the defibrillator along side Steve Pace, the Wiggles drummer and Kimmy Antonelli, a band staff member.
The group have been praised for saving Page’s life after keeping his heart beating for roughly 20 minutes using the defibrillator three times, until paramedics arrived.
‘People should know the lifesaving equipment is ‘absolutely not’ just for medically trained people to use,’ Mr Morgan said.
Ms Jones told of how she had never saved someone’s life outside of the hospital.
She said: ‘It’s a bit surreal. I do things like that every day at work, I didn’t expect to do that without equipment and everything like that.’
Paramedic Brian Purcell (right) praised Grace Jones (left) saying that Page was alive due to her quick actions
Page ( pictured back left) revealed he was suffering from orthostatic intolerance in 2006, which caused problems with the function of his heart when he was standing, he left the wiggles due to this poor health but returned in 2012
‘You just have to have a go, and you may just save a life as we saw when Grace got up and had a go.’ Dr Morgan said.
He then continued to urge public places to invest in defibrillators, assuring that they are ‘totally safe’.
Dr Morgan said defibrillators can be purchased for $1500, saying it was ‘sadly uncommon’ for paramedics to arrive at a cardiac arrest call and find one at the site.
‘Time is of the essence when it comes to treating cardiac arrests’ he said.
‘Every minute that your heart is stopped the chances of surviving reduce by 7-10 per cent’.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan has called for more defibrillators in public places as paramedic Brian Parcell (pictured) said Greg’s was an ‘extraordinary story of survival’
Paramedic Brian Parcell, a paramedic who worked on Page in the ambulance, said it was ‘an extraordinary story of survival’.
‘We found Greg was unconscious at that point but he had cardiac output, his heart was actually beating,’ Mr Parcell said.
Emma Watkins, the current Yellow Wiggle, stepped in for Page as the band carried on with its planned second show on Saturday at Castle Hill.
The group posted a picture of Page in hospital giving a thumbs up with the caption: ‘Let’s raise the roof tonight and do it for Greg whilst raising funds for the Australian Red Cross and WIRES.’
The group posted a picture of Page in hospital giving a thumbs up to twitter as they dedicated their Saturday night performance to him
Emma Watkins, the current Yellow Wiggle, pictured centre left, with her band-mates. She took over for Greg on Saturday’s charity bushfire gig