No first aiders at train station

[Mushroomlady]

An older woman tripped and fell in front of me on the station platform while running for a train today. She was very badly injured. I've been first aid trained for work so was able to help - removed her broken glasses, laid her down on her side, stemmed the bleeding (quite heavy), bandaged her up, shaded her from the sun, talked to her, etc. I asked if any of the station staff were first aiders and the answer was no! There was about 4 of them. I had to shout at them to call an ambulance, but it was another passenger that called as the staff were dithering and seemed quite clueless.

Aibu to be absolutely shocked about this? They are dealing with hundreds of passengers per day. How is it not essential that they have a certified first aider on site at all times?
Should I complain? Assume they would need to log it in accident book?

It was just a bit scary because I haven't had much practice with first aid and when is saw the station guy arriving I thought 'Phew, help is here', except it wasn't. They didn't even talk to her as far as I remember. I assumed they were automatically going to call an ambulance because it was an elderly lady and there was a lot of blood and lost teeth. 5 mins after the incident I realised they still hadn't called and I had to shout for someone to do it. In the end another young woman called for an ambulance, not the station staff.

This.

Also I don't care how someone injures themselves, I'm not just going to leave them on the floor in who knows what state.

I can tell you exactly what happens when someone trips on a train platform.

They sue.

Want to know who else sues? The parents who leave their kid unattended in a train bathroom and he gets his willy stuck between the toilet seat and the bowl.

Surely if there's employees there then there should be a first aider amongst them though. We have a really small staff team so I'm first aid trained but the rest of the team aren't (one is being trained shortly because it does leave a gap if I have leave. I understand if it's an unmanned station though?

It seems for the previous posters that you should steped over her as it was all her own fault.

There's no staff at our station. I did first aid training at school for the pupils when I worked in a school. I guess that's why so many people don't know to do cpr? Not my problem, not my legal responsibility view? When my kids have hurt themselves in shops for example no one has ever said sorry your kids not staff.

Did the staff come over when you said call an ambulance? Maybe they are also of the mn mindset that only near death requires a hospital trip?

To be clear, it is a mainline train station with hundreds of trains passing through every day. Trains arriving every 5-10 mins. At any one time it seems like there are at least 5 staff visibly on duty.

No - only if there's a certain number of employees and/or the workplace is considered dangerous.

I worked in a small shop with a team of 10 people. Nobody on site was first-aid trained. All we had to do was provide a basic first-aid kit that was checked every six months or so.

However when I worked in a large supermarket, there did have to be trained first-aiders on site, I believe because there were more than 25 employees and the risk of injury was greater (fires, burning on hot ovens etc).

You understand that some stations don't have any staff at all, right?

I'm more intrigued as to why you put her on her side if her knee was bleeding?

Five staff is nowhere near the recommended limit for having a first-aider on duty, though. It's a very small number in the grand scheme of things.

I imagine the station staff were pissed off frustrated with yet another member of the public who couldn’t be bothered to “waste their precious time” waiting for the next train, and instead ran or tried to stick their arms/belongings into closing doors.

bollocks. Given that we sometimes don't even know when the next train is coming, and often have a ticket that is valid for that exact train and no other, or may be trying to make a flight etc etc, it is not beyond the bounds of possiblity that people might run for trains.

What the bigger problem is, imo, is the general lack of a) first aid knowledge and b) willingness to help among the general public.

On Look North the other night they were showing how (I think) Emergency crews went into hundreds of schools across Yorkshire to teach the children how to do CPR. And an interview with a woman who needed CPR when she collapsed while out with her children - luckily 2 passers by knew how to do it and called an ambulance.

OP asked if she should complain. People are responding with facts. You can be as morally outraged as you like but the facts are it’s pointless reporting it or complaining because the train station hasn’t done anything incorrect here. Surely you’re intelligent enough to understand that advising OP on the legalities of the situation doesn’t mean you can’t be annoyed by it.

Yes I am aware of that, thank you I obviously don't expect non-existent staff to be first aid trained 🙄

I just would have thought that at a busy staffed mainline train station there would be someone on duty that has been trained to deal with an emergency situation like an injured passenger. This is not some rural station, it has multiple platforms, a ticket office, lifts, shops, etc.

This has to be the stupidest comment I've seen on Mumsnet in quite a while, and that's saying something! let's let it fall by the weight it's own folly.

@Mushroomlady might surprise you but the vast majority of station/platform staff don't have the training to go on the track either.

I think it's a nice-to-have from a bygone era when things weren't so tight in the budgets sadly. I don't think you can expect that any more.

Well done OP and thank you for helping. I'm not great in a crisis but so grateful to people who are (yes I'm working on this!)

^this.

Public Sector first aiders are only "insured" to give aid to a colleague, and not the general public, unfortunately.

Thanks for the responses. This has been a bit of an eye opener! I'm now wondering about other places where I had always assumed staff were first aid trained, like shopping centres and football stadiums. Especially given various tragedies and terror attacks that have happened in the past, it surprises me to hear that the companies/organisations involved are not obligated or expected to provide first aid to the public.

Which station was it?

There are some right dickheads on this thread. I hope they encounter kinder strangers than they frankly deserve if they ever have an accident.

OP well done for helping, hope you’ve had a gin and the lady is ok. The state of first aid in this country is depressing, I think it should be mandatory in all public places.

I work in a major supermarket and I’m 1st aid trained.
Officially I only have to respond to a staff 1st aid call but we also attend customers if they are injured because they are more likely to sue.

I’m a student nurse and, as such, first aid trained and then some. If someone has an accident in front of us we’re obligated, by our Code, to offer help, regardless of who it is, as long as it’s safe to do so, and I think that’s how it should be.

Even public places where there are no staff on duty?

If so, does that public place have to close if there is no qualified first aider staff, i.e. if they call in sick that day?

As mentioned above, re railway stations, what about unmanned stations - are should we close them all?

What about council owned parks - sometimes there are no staff at all, other times, there'll just be gardeners - should one of them be first aid trained?

I am surprised you are shocked by it.
I wouldn't expect all train staff to be First Aid trained, no.
I mean, don't get me wrong, it would be great if more people were first aid trained, but I don't expect there to be an officially trained person wherever I go, on the off chance someone needs First Aid.