A Victorian paramedic has driven himself to hospital after suffering a massive heart attack on the job.
David Watson was preparing to exercise while stationed in the small town of Casterton, near the South Australian border, on April 30 when he experienced a sudden, crushing pain across his chest.
The 52-year-old recognised the symptoms and hooked himself up to the ambulance's electrocardiography (ECG) machine.
When he saw the reading, he thought "uh oh, that's not right".
With tingling arms, Mr Watson called for assistance from nearby Hamilton and drove himself 100 metres to the town's hospital.
Despite the emergency, Mr Watson told radio station 3AW he did not use the lights or sirens.
And he did not assist when he arrived at hospital.
"I kept my mouth shut," he said. "Nurses don't like paramedics telling them what to do."
Mr Watson was given clot-busting medication before he was airlifted to hospital in Geelong for an operation to insert a stent in his heart's main artery.
The paramedic, from Torquay, was told by doctors he was lucky to be alive.
Mr Watson's relieved wife, Nicole, was returning home from the football when the hospital called.
"[News of a] heart attack actually never crossed my mind because I know how fit he is," she said.
But she said her husband's calm reaction and self-diagnosis was no surprise.
"Dave's been in the ambulance service for nearly 25 years now," she said.
"During the last stint he had at Casterton he'd actually dealt with two other heart attacks. It's just part of the job for him."
Mr Watson had exercised regularly and did not consider himself a heart attack risk, despite admitting to a sweet tooth.
But Mrs Watson is not taking any risks during his two-month recovery, telling reporters on Tuesday everything containing sugar had been thrown out.
"The coffee has been thrown out, the beer's about to be thrown out," she said.
"That's news to me," her husband replied.
With AAP