An Irish doctor in Australia has described how his training just "kicked into gear" after he came across a man on a beach who had been bitten by a shark.
Brian Burns, who is a clinical professor of emergency medicine, said he was going for a jog near Manly beach on Monday when he saw what he thought was a group of teenagers doing basic life support training, but as he got closer he realised something else was going on.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One programme, he said they were professional lifeguards and CPR was being carried out on a person on the beach so he went to see if he could help.
"I found a young man who had clearly been pulled out of the surf following a shark bite and he was in cardiac arrest."
I assisted the first responders who were there, he explained, because the paramedics had yet to arrive.
"Once they arrived, we moved onto the next phase which is advanced life support and got some fluids and adrenaline into him," Professor Burns explained.
The next phase of resuscitation was the arrival of the emergency medical team by helicopter.
Professor Burns said he knew the paramedics and medical team so he was able to tell them what the man needed.
"Once his heart started beating again, we got him to the trauma centre at Royal North Shore Hospital, where I work, and he was brought directly to surgery," he said.
"We have a system in Sydney that allowed blood products to be brought to the patient on the beach," he explained, "so by the time he was brought to hospital he had already received a large transfusion of around 12 to 13 units of blood."
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Prof Burns said it was the first time he treated a shark bite "and it used to be a pretty rare event but is certainly happening now more commonly than it used to".
Unfortunately most shark bites are fatal, Professor Burns added.
"Whatever is going on there seem to be more shark bites than I've remembered. I've been here for 22 years and you'd get a few a year now. They're still low numbers but they are definitely increasing."
Heavy rains stirring up murky waters were blamed for the unusual spate of attacks in the state of New South Wales.
Prof Burns said the man he treated remains in intensive care.
He said he was really proud of the amazing response by the surfers in the water, the lifeguards and members of the surf club who "without skipping a beat" got straight in and tried to assist the man.
In doing so, he said they afforded him every chance.
