A local CFA captain who travelled to Queensland to help battle that state’s bushfire crisis has had his return home delayed, after stopping to help another passenger who suffered a medical episode at Brisbane Airport.
Inverleigh captain Andrew Collins left Victoria last week to transport vitally needed fire trucks to the sunshine state as it battled dozens of out-of-control blazes.
Andrew and other members of his strike team were having coffee at the Qantas lounge as they waited to board their plane when a woman ran past, screaming for medical assistance.
“I asked her if everything was all right, and she said there was a man having a seizure around the corner,” Andrew said.
Andrew and Mornington CFA Captain Michael Licciardo sprung into action, directing Qantas staff to call an ambulance while they monitored the patient.
“You just do what you have to do, and being someone with first-aid training, I followed her. The man was already sitting up, but he wasn’t looking very well at all.
“We just started doing the usual checks, but he was sweating from head to toe and was very hot. We knew that there was something obviously not quite right.”
The veteran firefighters spent almost an hour with the elderly man, and were unable to fly home with the rest of their crew.
“We just sent them on, it wasn’t even a concern. Our concern was this member of the public who wasn’t well.
“Time flies, and suddenly our flight was boarding and leaving. The Qantas people were fantastic and said they’d get our bags and transfer us onto the next flight.”
The airline showed its appreciation to Andrew and Michael by upgradig them to business class for their trip back to Melbourne.
