Warrawong firies find unconscious woman behind the wheel at their back door

Warrawong station officer Jason Harvey said firefighter Vanessa McKellar was in the car park at the rear of the King Street station about to drive home, when she heard a weak solitary honk of a car's horn.

She looked up and saw a woman in her fifties, leaning forward on the steering wheel - and not breathing.

An emergency call for an ambulance was made and then the firefighters started first aid.

"There was nothing for us to go on except for an asthma puffer in her hand," Mr Harvey said.

"We removed her from the vehicle performed first aid. We did stabilise her. Once we got her on the ground she did come round a little bit."

The woman had an asthma attack while driving and had stopped breathing; in an emergency, she pulled into the car park of the fire station she was passing and summoned up enough energy to sound the horn just once before collapsing.

"It's the first time someone's rolled into the car park and lost consciousness," Mr Harvey said.

"She's very lucky that everything lined up for her. She was well enough at the time to steer into the car park and not enter then intersection of Greene Street and King Street - that could have been a totally different circumstance.

"Also the firefighter was in the rear yard at the time and just about to drive away when she noticed it. And also that we weren't at a call. If we were at a call, we wouldn't have been able to assist her.

"The planets just lined up for her."

An ambulance crew arrived within minutes of the call and took over the care of the patient before driving her to Wollongong Hospital.

Mr Harvey was full of praise for the work of all ambulance officers.

"They did a fantastic job," he said.

"At times like these they need to be given as many thank yous as possible. We really appreciate the work they do in the community, and they're working really hard at the moment."