Volunteer responder helped save Jakob after cardiac arrest

A volunteer cardiac responder was among those who helped save Jakob Hoffmann after he suffered a cardiac arrest at home in 2024. The story was reported by DR.

Claus Madsen received an alert from the Hjerteløber app in the middle of the night. It took him three minutes and 30 seconds to get dressed, start his car and reach Hoffmann’s home in Saksild, near Odder.

Hoffmann, then 37, was lying on the floor of his bedroom. Madsen was the first volunteer responder to arrive. More followed, and they took turns giving him life-saving first aid until an ambulance arrived.

For about 40 minutes, the volunteers and ambulance crew worked to save Hoffmann, with no sign of a heart rhythm. Then his heart began beating again.

“It could have gone the other way, but fortunately it didn’t,” Madsen told DR.

Responders are reaching patients faster

New figures from the Hjerteløberordningen, a volunteer cardiac-responder scheme, show that half of its responders nationwide reach a person suffering cardiac arrest within three minutes and 24 seconds. That is more than a minute faster than the median response time recorded two years ago, which was four minutes and 44 seconds.

The scheme has 61,300 registered volunteers across Denmark. The figures, from TrygFonden, also state that 96 percent of people who survive cardiac arrest go on to live a good life, while 4 percent are left with more severe neurological injuries.

Living with few lasting effects

Hoffmann now lives a good life and has almost no lasting effects from the cardiac arrest. He sometimes feels more tired than before. He has a pacemaker, which monitors his heart, and it has not detected an irregularity since it was implanted.

He said his wife and the volunteer responders began CPR quickly and worked effectively. He is also grateful to those who helped his wife through the emergency, so she did not have to watch in confusion.

For Madsen, the experience confirmed the value of volunteering. “It’s a good idea to help when you have the skills to do so,” he said.