OTTAWA -- Ottawa paramedics are crediting some quick-thinking bystanders for helping to save a woman’s life in Orléans last month.

The woman in her 20s collapsed on the sidewalk in front of Chapel Hill Catholic School on Sept. 23, the Ottawa Paramedic Service said in a news release on Monday.

Two employees of Molly Maid, a cleaning service, saw the woman collapse and called 9-1-1. The operator guided them through chest compressions until more help arrived.

At the same time, another witness called 9-1-1, and the operator determined that the nearby school would have a public access defibrillator. She told the caller to send someone to retrieve it – a nearby Canada Post employee went and got it, and they administered a shock to the woman.

Emergency crews arrived on scene and paramedics took over chest compressions and administered another shock. The woman’s pulse came back and they rushed her to the Monfort Hospital.

After two weeks at the Monfort, she was transferred to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where she had minor surgery, and was discharged the following day.

“This event is just one more example of the true acts of heroism we see when members of our community come together to help one another,” paramedics said. “The individuals who came to this woman’s aid that day saved her life.”