Eight more security officers have been recognised for saving lives with the ASMF/St John Ambulance Save a Life Awards throughout Australia.
The Save a Life Award recognises security personnel who contribute, through the application of first aid skills, to saving the life of another person.
Rhys Collins, who had just completed his First Aid refresher training at ASSET Training Australia, had returned home to find his elderly neighbour in hysterics, stating that her friend had fall unconscious and stopped breathing. Before emergency services arrived, Collins immediately began performing CPR for around 8 minutes until the man’s pulse and colour returned. Collins was awarded for his actions in saving this man’s life.
Bradley Booth and Barbra Wood from Calamity Monitoring, were awarded for using their first aid skills to identify a colleague having a stroke whilst working in an operating centre. Under immense pressure, Booth and Wood liaised with emergency services whilst handling incoming alarm traffic.
Madison Taylor from Southern Cross Group Services was awarded for being a first responder to an incident where she had to apply immediate first aid, where a person had fallen and hit his head. Taylor immediately commenced CPR until emergency services arrived. Taylor calmly assisted with distressed family and onlookers and maintained control of the area and situation.
SNP Security team leader, Armando Malinao, was first on scene to an incident at Sydney Airport, where a male had fallen down the escalators. The man was seriously injured, with severe bleeding from both arms. Malinao provided immediate first aid, where he calmly and professionally began cleaning and bandaging the victim’s wounds. Malinao was awarded for providing this necessary treatment in order to stop the bleeding whilst waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Security Officer, Jye Nevins from Asset Group Solutions, was awarded for being a first aid responder to a male suffering a potentially fatal heart attack. Nevins quickly assessed the gentleman’s health status, and determined that without his assistance, this elderly gentleman may only have minutes to live. Nevins carried out immediate first aid to ensure the gentleman’s life was sustained whilst awaiting emergency services response and medical intervention.
Southern Cross Group Services Officer, Mohammed Bazzi, attended an incident where three people had been shot in a carpark. Bazzi attended to the most critical victim of the shooting and in consultation with a passing Doctor, commenced CPR whilst applying pressure to the gunshot wounds. Bazzi conducted several rounds of CPR in between moving the victim into recovery position to clear and try maintain an airway. Bazzi was awarded for not only applying first aid but for his actions in dealing with an intense situation with gunshot victims, coordinating other security staff, establishing access control and deployment of privacy screening.
Senior Officer, Abdul Ahmed from Asset Group Solutions, was awarded for saving the life of a male who had jumped off the Anzac Bridge. Ahmed was one of the first on scene at the waters edge, with quick thinking he sought the assistance of bystanders, who, holding onto Abdul Aziz Ahmed security jacket and legs, in order to reach the male and bring him to safety, as he was now approaching HMS Canberra’s Hull. Without the quick and active thinking of Ahmed, in actively recruiting bystanders to assist him with the extraction of the male from the water, the ending may have been a recovery one rather than a save.
Mark Stacey from SNP security was awarded for using his first aid training to save a colleague from a potentially fatal heart attack. The SNP employee was having difficulty breathing, despite indicating that he was feeling fine, and then began to sweat and have chest pains so Mark quickly but carefully accompanied him to the small kitchenette and gave him aspirin. When emergency services arrived they stated the efforts by the SNP team, in particular Mark’s administration of the aspirin, was vital in the treatment and short term recovery of the victim.
Quite often when asking officers how they feel about receiving their awards, they humbly respond “It is just a part of my job”. Yes, it is their job to protect people but it takes courage and quick thinking to save the life of an individual through the application of first aid. Congratulations to each of the above recipients for their quick thinking and necessary actions. Without calm assistance and quick assertiveness, the lives of many would not have been saved.