Friday 23rd January 2015 – 4.20pm – Claire Brown.
Traffic and security staff from the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham have been praised by the ambulance service for their life saving care.
The NEC staff came to the aid of not one but two members of the public in 2014 after they both suffered a cardiac arrest.
In October, a man collapsed by the Information Desk during the Motorhome and Caravan Show. Staff quickly established he wasn’t breathing and immediately commenced CPR and used their onsite Automated External Defibrillator, a device used to help restart a heart. Thankfully, due to their quick actions, the man started to breathe for himself before the ambulance service arrived.
The second case was in December during the Clothes Show Live. A couple were just about to leave The NEC in their car when the husband noticed his wife looked unwell. Realising the seriousness of her condition, he turned the car around and returned to the car park for help. A team effort by The NEC staff meant that an ambulance was called immediately, a defibrillator was bought to the scene and CPR was carried out on the woman. The staff also ensured her husband was looked after during the ordeal. Thankfully, both patients went on to make a full recovery.
On Monday the 19th January, during The NEC’s ‘Good Practice and Recognition Awards’, seven staff were presented with commendations from West Midlands Ambulance Service. Andy Jeynes, the Trust’s Community Response Manager, presented the awards and said: “These cases are a great example of team work and shows just how important early CPR is when someone is in cardiac arrest. If it hadn’t of been for their decisive actions, the outcome for both patients would’ve ultimately been very different.
“The NEC is an ideal place for defibrillators with so many visitors and staff on site each day. Not only do these life saving devices give peace of mind to the public but to their own staff too. The quicker you start CPR and shock a patient in cardiac arrest with a defibrillator, the better the chances they have of surviving. Both cases prove just this.”
Gary Masters, NEC Security and Traffic Operations Manager, said: “Great customer service is really important to us at the NEC, and these members of Team NEC have taken that to the next level by truly going the extra mile. In both cases, our security and traffic officers were going about their daily duties and suddenly found themselves thrust in to an extremely pressurised and demanding situation. They remained calm and administered first aid and CPR, as well as using the public space defibrillators deployed at the site. Their actions were exemplary and in both cases they gave back a life. We are extremely proud of them.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Pictured (left to right): Norrie Henderson, Paul Loveridge, Tom Clarke, Jeff Walmsley, Andy Jeynes, Richard Brown, Nadine Waldron, Darrell Robinson.