On Jun 15, 1:48*pm, tony sayer wrote:
Ignoring the misposted bits at the end (sorry about that).

Yes I have made a formal complaint to TfL; also I've written to the
Evening Standard - as I said God help us if there is a real emergency
- certainly the staff at Paddington are simply not prepared nor
apparently trained for medical emergencies; and I've emailed the
Stroke Association.

It may also be worth sending a letter to the London Ambulance service,
stating your concerns and requesting that if they agree with them they
should contact TfL themselves. (Obviously they can't disclose to you
the outcome, but they can check with their paramedic whether he agrees
with your assessment)

Well done to the OP for doing something re this casualty, and I'd do
just the same thing in similar circumstances. I cannot think anyone
would criticise anyone for doing the same.

It would be a good idea to take this further and try to get the
ambulance service to talk to the railway re training their staff 'else
another day and same circumstances;(..

Why didn't the station staff just call an ambulance anyway?, after all
there're the ones to handle this and its puts the station management and
staff in the clear anyway?..

How very odd;?...

--
Tony Sayer

Is it really that odd? As with the F.C.C. St Albans staff did nothing
to help (what turned out to be a fre dodger faking it in the end - but
thats NOT the point) an ill person story, just where do WE all fit in
to this sort of incident.

I am NOT "HEAT" trained other than from TV vieiwing and I am not first
aid trained. What I am very experienced in is speaking to the
emergency services on behalf of people who for a number of reasons
don't want to.

Throughout the whole of my career I have fielded calls from station
staff, Drivers direct, drivers via signallers (because the signaller
did not want to do it?) conductors and others. These have beenn a
fairly even mix of calls for police and ambuilances.

So the call goes along the lines of - you need to call then yourself -
you have all the answers they will ask you - the reply the driver has
rung off or if I am lucky the person is on the phone to me with the
ill person.

How old ? Male / Female ? nature of problem ? (Don;t know is a
frequent answer) age? Concious ? breathing ? anybody with her to know
if there is a medical history?

So I ring 999 and often have to expalin that whilst they can see I am
rining from central London I need to an ambulance for Ramsgate /
Peterborough / Downham Market or Warblington (All genuine cals I have
made over time).

Dealing with somebody suffering from trauma is NOT an everyday
experience for the vast majority of the population, in fact it is down
right scary to the point that the person dealing with it can become
traumatised themselves. Watching somebody suffering a severe heart
attack and relaying the information can and does render people
speechless. I had to console a guard who watched a woman die in these
circumstances and he was a complete gibbering wreck. When I am asked
to call 999 on someone elses behalf I will always check quickly why
they are not doing it, often they say that they have never done it
before and will then do so, if not I then crack on myself as I will
not waste time.

It's a funny old world because often the complete opposite has
happened and we get multiple calls to ask if there is a major incident
at xx or yy because the ambulance service is inundated with calls from
a train of a pssenger collapsed (etc).

I am not trying to stick up for any wrongdoings here and if staff have
been less than efficient in circumstances as described by CJB they
need to be addressed, just raising the point that not everybody knows
what do in general. Obviously if you have had training in first aid
you mix with and discuss with like minded people and it becomes part
of the "norm" but what percentage of people are first aid trained or
"HEAT" trained and what expectaion should we have that if I go to, say
the cinema, or a restaraunt, that any of the staff there are HEAT
trained?

Will be intersesting to see if Mr Murray is sent on an errand !

Richard

cjb, couldn't you have called 999 at the very start of the incident? I
don't remember if mobiles work from the Underground. But I would like to
know exactly what to do if I'm involved in something like this (I've had
to call 911 numerous times; it's the first thing I think when I see an
accident.)