Two weeks later, after bypass surgery, Paul went home. His family saved his life by calling 911 right away. Of the 1,000 or so people who have cardiac arrests on O'ahu each year, fewer than 30 survive. Many are dead before help even arrives. When someone on O'ahu collapses, about eight minutes pass before someone calls 911.
People tend to call family or doctors first.
Others worry about the expense or the embarrassment of calling an ambulance. But with every minute that goes by, the chance of survival diminishes. Consequently, only one out of three people who needs CPR gets it before emergency workers arrive. There, the average time to call 911 is about 45 seconds after collapse. In Hawai'i, there are 1,300 cardiac arrests each year.