Highland man's fight to save life of passenger – 'Why don't they have defibrillators on the train?'
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A Caithness businessman, praised for his efforts to try and resuscitate a north Highland rail passenger, thinks lifesaving defibrillators should be carried on all trains.
Richard Otley is an accountant living in Watten and learned CPR techniques from his time as an army reservist with the Royal Engineers.
On June 5 he was making his way home after a business trip and said: "I was travelling back to Caithness on the last train from Inverness and just outside of Beauly an announcement came over the tannoy asking if anyone had medical experience.
"I waited for a doctor to spring up but nobody did so I offered assistance. The gentleman turned out to be two seats behind me at a table and unresponsive."
Mr Otley, who was travelling by himself, said the man was around 65-70 years of age and he had no previous interaction with him. "I checked if he was breathing and had a pulse. When I established that he didn't, I pulled him out the chair and onto the floor but there wasn't enough room to work on him. I had to drag him the length of the carriage to where the doors are."
He says that "casualty drills", learned from army training, helped him move the casualty into a better space so he could start CPR work effectively. "I checked his airways and started CPR. The guard was in contact with the British Transport Police by this time and it was arranged that the ambulance would meet us at Dingwall station. I carried on CPR until we got there and the gentleman was moved onto a trolley. He was prepared to be shocked [with a defibrillator] but unfortunately he was deceased and sadly my efforts were in vain."
Mr Otley said he had stayed with the man in the ambulance and had continued using CPR for about 30 minutes until a doctor arrived and pronounced him dead. The train was terminated at Dingwall and held for further investigations by British Transport Police as a "potential crime scene". All the passengers then returned to Inverness on another train and were allocated taxis by the rail company to take them to their destinations. "I arrived back in Watten at 2am and the fare was £311. If the train is late or cancelled they do that all the time – the passengers are well looked after by ScotRail."
Mr Otley says that the army reserves training over the last 15 years with the Royal Engineers had provided the knowledge of what to do in this situation. He used these CPR techniques on the man for 40 minutes in total and admitted to feeling "fairly exhausted" by the end.
"I don't know who the man was and have had no contact from his family but that's fine," he told the John O'Groat Journal.
"I regret I wasn't able to save him but I tried my best. I just did all I could with the skillset I had learned from the army reserve but unfortunately it wasn't enough. ScotRail unfortunately don't carry defibrillators on their trains.
"Considering the isolation of the far north line it would probably be a good idea to carry them." He said he was not aware of the lifesaving devices being held at railway stations either. "It may have not changed anything but could have given a 30-minute advantage," he added.
Matthew O'Neill, a rep for the British Transport Police, thanked Mr Otley for his efforts on the day saying that his sergeant, along with the train staff, were "impressed" by the way he "handled the situation and took control".
Mr Otley was commended for his actions by an adjutant in his army unit after he received information from ScotRail about the incident. He said that annual CPR training is mandatory for regular and reserve personnel in the army.
Laura Cook, conductor team manager at ScotRail Inverness, had told him "how lucky we felt to have had Richard on board that evening and the part he played in ensuring that it could be handled as well as it was".
She also told the adjutant with 71 Engineer Regiment that Mr Otley's actions meant that the conductor could concentrate to safely operate the train to Dingwall and ensure the other customers on board were looked after "in what were clearly very distressing circumstances".
She continued: "We all know that Richard’s actions gave that gentleman the absolute best chance and we are incredibly grateful for what he did that day in supporting our traincrew.
"I spoke with Richard recently to say a personal thank you from myself and all at Scotrail and he mentioned that it was his military training which supported him in his quick and competent actions on that day. I felt it was important to feed back to you so you are aware what this meant to us and I am sure, the gentleman’s family.
