Before help arrives: Why ordinary people are crucial to any emergency response

By Folashade Ajayi, Co-Founder, CareStrong

There is a belief, deeply held and widely shared, that in a medical emergency the right thing to do is step back and wait. Wait for the doctor.

Wait for the nurse. Wait for someone with the proper training and the proper authority. It comes from a good place. Humility. A fear of making things worse. A respect for expertise.

But in a sudden cardiac arrest, that instinct kills. When a person’s heart stops, every minute without action reduces the chance of survival by ten percent. Within four minutes, brain damage begins.

The gap between when a person collapses and when medical help is reached is the most dangerous window in any emergency.

That window belongs to whoever is already in the room. Not the doctor at the hospital.
Not the nurse on another floor. The person already standing there.

The colleague at the next desk. The usher by the door. The security guard at the entrance. You.
When someone begins chest compressions within the first two minutes, survival rates can double or even triple.

When everyone waits, that chance collapses entirely. It does not matter how skilled the medical team is when they eventually arrive. The damage is already done.

In Nigeria, the instinct when someone collapses is to get them to a hospital as fast as possible. This comes from genuine care and it is understandable.

But consider what happens in that journey. The person is being moved. Nobody is performing chest compressions.

Every minute in that vehicle, without intervention, is a minute the brain is going without oxygenated blood.

Getting to the hospital matters. But what happens before you get there determines whether the journey was worth anything at all.

One of the most common reasons people give for not acting is the fear of causing harm. What if I press too hard? What if I do it wrong? What if I make things worse?

Here is what medical evidence tells us clearly. For a person in cardiac arrest, doing nothing is always worse than doing something.

Chest compressions keep blood moving. They are not a cure. They are a bridge. They buy time.

You are not overstepping by acting. You are doing the only thing that can actually help in that moment.
Ask any emergency physician what they wish the public understood and the answer is consistent.

Get there first. Do something. Keep the blood moving. We can work with a person who has received chest compressions.

We cannot undo the damage of several minutes of nothing.

The medical profession is not asking to be replaced. They are asking for partners.
They are asking for the person at the scene to hold the line until they can get there.
That person can be anyone.

It can be you.

This week: Find out the nearest hospital or clinic to where you work and where you live.
Then ask yourself honestly: how long would it take them to reach you or you reach them?
Whatever that gap is, it belongs to whoever is already in the room.

Next week: What Is CPR and Why does every Nigerian need to know it – the skill that saves lives, explained plainly.