Elderly Man Collapsed at a Coffee Shop During Breakfast & Was Helped by Bukit Batok MP Who Happened to be There

What would you do if someone near you suddenly collapsed? Would you be prepared for such an emergency?

This was the question Bukit Batok SMC Member of Parliament (MP) Murali Pillai put to his followers on Facebook after an alarming incident at a coffee shop on Saturday morning (27 March).

Elderly Man Collapsed at a Coffee Shop During Breakfast & Was Helped by Bukit Batok MP Who Happened to be There

Recounting what happened in a Facebook post, Mr Murali said he had gone to a coffee shop located at Block 155 Bukit Batok Street 11 on Saturday morning for breakfast.

“I was together with my branch comrades for breakfast. I ordered my usual ‘yu char kway’ and kopi o kosong. My comrades ordered wanton mee,” he wrote.

A few minutes later, a coffee shop attendant informed Mr Murali that an elderly man at the coffee shop had suddenly lost consciousness and fallen to the ground.

He was drinking tea when he collapsed. The glass he held fell to the ground and shattered to pieces.

Mr Murali, along with his colleague, rushed to the elderly man and tried to wake him up.

Fortunately, the man regained consciousness on his own. Mr Murali then called 995 for help.

“The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer speaking to me calmly asked that I turn the old man to one side to prevent choking and check for the rise and fall of his tummy,” he wrote.

“We then kept talking to the old man to ensure he remains conscious. In the meantime, our Bukit Batok residents stood back to give him air. Many of them stood by praying and offered words of support.”

10 minutes later, SCDF personnel arrived on the scene and brought the man to the hospital.

A general practitioner (GP) in Bukit Batok came earlier with a defibrillator to assist the ailing man.

According to Mr Murali, the GP had rushed out of his clinic in Bukit Batok upon hearing about the incident.

Are We Really Prepared for An Emergency?

Mr Murali revealed that had the man not regained consciousness, he may not have been prepared to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

“My CPR skills have not been validated for a while now. We were lucky that the old man quickly became conscious and was breathing”, he said.

“I intend to sign up to revalidate my skills the next chance I get.”

Mr Murali asked residents if they too were prepared for such emergencies, and reminded Bukit Batok residents that the Bukit Batok Community Emergency and Engagement (C2E) Committees have first aid and CPR courses that they can sign up for.

Feature Image: Facebook (Murali Pillai)