Susanna Freymark
Dave Custer has been an ambo for 28 years.
He worked out of Evans Head and Ballina stations for the last 20 years. Before that he was at Parramatta and Narrabeen in Sydney.
At Dave’s farewell lunch in Evans Head last month, he received a plaque, badge, certificate and a thank you letter acknowledging his service.
For local John Frederiksen, Dave was there when he needed him most.
On January 19 in 2023, John woke at 2.10am with severe chest pain. He called for an ambulance.
On the way to Lismore Base Hospital he went into cardiac arrest.
“The road was bumpy from the flood damage. The next thing I knew I woke up in Lismore Hospital with about 20 doctors and nurses around me,” John told NSW Ambulance magazine Sirens.
Dave and his colleague Britt Mantle treated John’s chest pain and began the bumpy 45-minute trip through Wyrallah to Lismore.
*About 10 minutes out, with no warning John went into pulseless VT (ventricular tachycardia),” Britt said.
“I started CPR as Dave pulled the car over and called for backup.”
Dave and Britt worked on John doing compressions, charging, using the defibrillator and cardiac arrest management.
Britt and David delivered John to Lismore Hospital and transferred his care to the medical team waiting.
John had another heart attack at the hospital.
One week later John walked out of Lismore Base Hospital.
“I was fine apart from my sore ribs,” John said.
Three weeks later John bumped into Britt and Dave getting a coffee at the Evans Head Surf Club.
They took a photo together.
Dave’s wife Sue Custer said one of Dave’s more infamous stories was told on TV in an an interview on Mornings with Kerri Anne about a lifesaving job on 10 year old patient named Wolfie Weiner.
That is not a misprint, Sue said.
As Dave enjoys the next chapter of his life, Sue joked that he could write a book about being a paramedic.
Thank you Dave for saving lives and helping people.