Ambos stand by mouth-to-mouth advice

Ambulance Victoria says it's normal practice to encourage the public to give a stranger mouth-to-mouth after a man feared he might contract HIV when he resuscitated an overdosed heroin addict.
Melbourne good Samaritan Chris Cole says he felt torn when a triple-zero operator urged him to give mouth-to-mouth to the woman who had overdosed on heroin, despite his concerns about possible infection.
Mr Cole stopped to help when he saw the woman unconscious in a car at Healesville on January 12. Her boyfriend said she had overdosed and he couldn't wake her.
Mr Cole said a triple-zero operator told him to give her mouth-to-mouth.
"I said, 'Well, look, this is a drug addict, I don't want to give mouth-to-mouth for fear of contracting a disease, be it HIV or hepatitis or whatever'."
"And he said, 'Well, it's essential, this is a life-and-death matter'."
Mr Cole tried to relay the operator's instructions to the boyfriend but he was too distressed to act.
"He (the operator) said, 'Look, you'll need to do it'. And he told me how to do it. He certainly didn't mention anything about protective membrane between my mouth and hers."
Her breathing improved and a doctor from a local GP clinic, who had been alerted by Mr Cole's wife, took over treating the woman until paramedics arrived.
Mr Cole said the doctor and his own GP were horrified that he had been instructed to give the woman unprotected mouth-to-mouth.
Doctors told him to get tested immediately for HIV and hepatitis, and again in three months.
Mr Cole said the public should not be told to give mouth-to-mouth without the protection of some sort of face shield.
But Ambulance Victoria general manager, regional services, Tony Walker said the service would not change its procedures because CPR saved lives and the risk of catching a disease was minimal.
"All the available evidence and the Resuscitation Council of Australia's guidelines identify that the risk of catching any disease from mouth-to-mouth is negligible," he said.
Associate Professor Walker said the ambulance service gave advice over the phone on how to perform CPR but it did not point out the risk of infection.
"We don't raise the flag of potential infection because the risk is so low and we want to encourage people to do it."
While he was happy the woman recovered, Mr Cole said he would have acted differently if he had been properly informed.
"With what I know now, I obviously would have just ignored his instructions because if it was really going to be a significant risk to me and my family, well ... sorry, I would have probably then declined.
"I should have been instructed properly.
"My doctor says you should have been told to use your shirt or handkerchief as a barrier between yourself and her mouth. It would have been as simple as that."
Assoc Prof Walker said he was not aware of any documented cases worldwide where a person had contracted HIV or hepatitis from mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
He said a preliminary review showed the triple-zero operator followed normal procedures.
"In this case, nothing was done wrong," Assoc Prof Walker said.
He said the ambulance service did not pressure bystanders to perform CPR but operators did point out that it was a life-and-death situation.