National first aid challenge

Railway men's life saving skills win national contest

Two railway workers from Derby dazzled judges with their life savings skills and first aid knowledge to win the St John Ambulance UK First Aid Championship, sponsored by Tarmac.

Trevor Radford and Steve Quinby, of RIFAA Network Rail Derby, beat off stiff competition from 27 other teams during a series of rigorous tests at the championships in Rugby, Warwickshire.

St John Ambulance, the nation’s leading first aid charity, hosted the 59th annual finals of the UK First Aid Championship as a challenge to first aid teams from industry and voluntary organisations throughout the country to demonstrate their competence in a variety of realistic first aid scenarios.

The competition was again sponsored by Tarmac, the UK largest quarrying company and leading supplier of heavy building materials. Since it was founded in 1903, the safety and welfare of its workforce has been a major priority of the company. With around 12,500 employees worldwide, it is also committed to maintaining a high level of first aid training in the workplace.

David Weston, Chief Executive Office of Tarmac said: ‘We congratulate the winning team. I was delighted to continue Tarmac’s sponsorship of the UK First Aid Championship. The safety of Tarmac employees is a primary concern for me, and supporting events like this reinforces our commitment.

'On a personal note, I believe that learning first aid skills and understanding the importance of adopting safe working practices is vitally important for employees at every level within all organisations. This year’s 60th Anniversary celebrations were a marvellous opportunity to recognise the outstanding contribution that St John Ambulance’s essential work makes to people throughout the UK.’

Participants in the UK First Aid Championship were selected from the top first aid and health and safety personnel in their respective industries. All of them held a Health and Safety Executive-approved first aid at work certificate and had already won first aid competitions to qualify for entry to the championship.

The younger teams came from every major youth organisation and all had successfully completed the St John Ambulance Young First Aider course or similar youth first aid qualifications. The youth competition was won by the Grimethorpe St John Ambulance Cadets - Ellie Robinson, Carly Whaling, Katherine Sewell and Shauni Bake.

Trevor Radford said he and Steve Quinby were really pleased with their win, which came after months of training: ‘Competition is really tough and we have been training for a long time to make sure we were ready to face anything. The competition organisers at St John Ambulance bring in volunteer actors from the Casualty Union to be the patients and their injuries and actions are very realistic. You have no idea what to expect. It’s a very highly thought of competition and we are very happy to have won.’

Lynda Coude, the administrator for the adult competition, said: ‘The standard of expertise and level of training demonstrated at this championship was once again very high and showed the commitment and dedication within business and industry to health and safety issues. The aim each year is to encourage first aid in the workplace and to help first aiders train for any eventuality, focussing on those who volunteer for the benefit of others.’