Making a difference: Station manager saves lives
Mr Koh Hui Chong is not just the station manager of Somerset MRT station, the 51-year-old is also a hero.
Calm in the face of crisis, Mr Koh has saved lives in the course of his work. The incidents are etched in his mind.
Once, an elderly man suffered a heart attack in the station and collapsed on the ground, scaring bystanders.
Mr Koh leapt into action.
He recalled: "We have all learnt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but I had never used it. At that moment, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to help him, but time was ticking away so I just did it anyway."
Mr Koh, while administering CPR to the elderly man, asked security to block them from others' view and to give the man some privacy, lest he was against videos or pictures of him posted online.
Theuse of CPR was successful and the man was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, hedied a few days later due to other causes.
Mr Koh also once helped to save an infant.
He was approached by a mother who was in tears and carrying a baby whose body was cold and whose lips had turned purple. She begged Mr Koh to help save her baby.
Mr Koh, who has had emergency medical training, thought the baby might have been choking and checked his windpipe and lightly hit his back.
He called for people with medical training to help over the announcement system, and a nurse and medical officer of the Singapore Armed Forces came forward.
After a round of resuscitation, the baby began to respond, started to regain some colour and even cried out.
Mr Koh, a father of two, said: "I was so emotional that I cried. I saved a baby, I was so touched."
The baby's father later complimented Mr Koh for helping his wife when she was at her most helpless.
Mr Koh also goes the extra mile to help passengers who are not in life-threatening situations.
He once helped a young woman who was hunched over due to intense menstrual cramps by fashioning a heat pack out of hot water and several layers of plastic bags.
He also asked a colleague to take the woman out of the station in a wheelchair so she could get a taxi to the hospital.
Mr Koh said: "I am just fulfilling my duties. These are all things that I should do. If I can help others, I will definitely do it."
His choice of charity is Sunlove Home.
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