Off-duty Hanoi nurse saves security guard after cardiac arrest at supermarket

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at a Winmart supermarket inside the Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach shopping mall, where the guard suddenly went into convulsions, turned cyanotic and stopped breathing, according to a statement from Bach Mai Hospital.

Pham Thi Thuy Ha, a nurse at the hospital's poison control center who was nearby at the time, immediately checked the man's condition and began performing chest compressions, the hospital said.

After about two minutes of continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the crowded store, the man regained a pulse, his color improved and he regained consciousness

An ambulance later transported him to Bach Mai Hospital for further monitoring and treatment.

The hospital said Ha is currently undergoing treatment for ankylosing spondylitis, a condition that can cause chronic back and spinal pain. 

Chest compressions require sustained, rhythmic force.

Ha said the incident occurred outside working hours while she was waiting to pick up her child from school and had stopped by the supermarket to buy food.

"It was a professional reflex," she was quoted as saying by the hospital, adding that immediate action was necessary to give the patient a chance of survival.

The hospital said Ha did not initially identify herself during the resuscitation and only bystanders later learned she was a nurse at Bach Mai Hospital after the ambulance departed.