Nine members of the Shopping Centre staff, including security officers and management personnel, have been trained by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SCAS) and successfully completed a Basic Life Support and AED course. The main difference in their level of training as opposed to basic First Aid is that they’ve been trained in the use of special equipment, such as a defibrillator and oxygen sets, which is kept to hand within the Centre in readiness for when it’s needed. This means that while an ambulance is on its way to the Centre, patients are given immediate attention.
The training includes how to deal with people who are unconscious or suffering respiratory or circulation problems, as well as other medical emergencies. The responders have also been trained in patient assessment so that valuable time is saved when the ambulance arrives.
Apple Security: firmly supportive of the scheme
The responders work closely with a team of SCAS responders who patrol the centre of Aylesbury on mountain bikes and, to help their work, an office has been provided in Friars Square.
The scheme was launched in time for the 2007 Christmas shopping season, and has since proven to be extremely successful. While SCAS provide some basic supplies and all the training, including a six-monthly refresher course, the major equipment has been donated by Apple Security, the company that holds the contract for providing security officers in Friars Square (the spiritual home of rock quintet Marillion).
The team responds to emergencies in two ways: if a security officer notices someone in difficulty, or they are seen by the Centre’s CCTV operators, staff community responders are alerted and attend the scene. Friars Square Security Control then notifies SCAS Emergency Operations Control such that an ambulance can be sent.
Alternatively, if a member of the public dials 999, the Emergency Operations Control will not only send an ambulance but also alert Friars Square so that their staff community responder can attend immediately. This facility covers most of the centre of Aylesbury, including the rail station, bus station and surrounding shopping streets and car parks (not to mention the Civic Centre, b.
More than the basic skills
Speaking about the scheme, Paul Kirkham – security manager at Friars Square – told info4security: “All of our security officers must have a basic knowledge of First Aid to work here. However, with a reasonable frequency of visitors to the Centre suffering medical problems, we considered that it would be useful to equip our staff with much more than the basic skills. This means that our customers, possibly without being aware of the fact, have a level of protection in Friars Square which, as far as I am aware, is not matched anywhere else.”
Kirkham continued: “Fortunately, the type of incident that occurs is usually relatively minor, but even a fall and broken arm can ruin a day out shopping, let alone a suspected heart attack! So this is a winning situation for everyone: members of the public receive immediate treatment if needed; the ambulance paramedics have an initial assessment already in place for when they arrive and the centre of Aylesbury is a much safer environment in which to shop.”
There are 60 shops in the Friars Square Centre, with 150,000 shoopers using it every week (45,000 of them on a Saturday alone).