“Stand clear!” paramedics encourage children to save a life at 60th anniversary Open Day

London Ambulance Service paramedics taught life-saving skills and demonstrated what it’s like working for the UK’s busiest ambulance service at a fun-filled family event in Battersea Park last week.

To celebrate 60 years of saving lives, paramedics from the Service’s London Lifesavers team trained over 200 Londoners in how to do chest compressions and use a defibrillator when someone is in cardiac arrest. This is a life-threatening emergency where a person’s heart stops pumping blood and oxygen around the body.

Children also had the opportunity to meet clinicians from the Service’s hazardous area response team (that’s the team who are sent to patients in potentially dangerous situations – such as those at height or in water) and the cycle response unit, and learn about their exciting roles.

They inspired the children to try on the kit and equipment used by the special operations resources team and took to the driver’s seat in an old ambulance from the London Ambulance Service Historic Collection.

Simon Matin is an Employability Skills Programme Manager at London Ambulance Service. He attended the event with his seven-year-old son Ayden to help him learn life-saving skills and show him how paramedics care for Londoners.

Simon said: “It’s always special sharing these experiences with my son. Not only does it make him proud that I work for LAS but it also gives him insights into the different things we do.

“Ayden felt inspired and wants to help others.”

Simon joked: “He even learned how tricky it is to play Jenga wearing the big protective gloves our specialist teams sometimes wear,  and how difficult it is for a seven-year-old to run with our body armour.”

Ayden added: “It was great and lots of fun. I liked putting the red and green patches on when learning CPR and shouting out ‘stand clear!’”

Olivia Peters, Events and Community Fundraiser at London Ambulance Charity, said: “A huge thank you to everyone who came to visit us at our Open Day at Battersea Park. We had such an incredible response from Londoners at our stop.

“We were so pleased to raise awareness of the work that London Ambulance Charity does in supporting the London Lifesavers campaign.

“If you didn’t attend the event, you can show your support for the campaign by donating or fundraising for our charity, especially if our crews have cared for a loved one in time of need.

“The money will go towards helping our crews train local communities in life-saving skills and helping us in our goal to make London the best city in the world for cardiac arrest survival.”

This year, London Ambulance Service has been celebrating 60 years of saving lives in the capital.

Ambulance services had existed before 1965 but previously come under control of various bodies, from the fire service to the London County Council. Sixty years ago nine services amalgamated to form London Ambulance Service.

The London Lifesavers campaign is currently funded through a generous time-limited grant from NHS Charities Together. The campaign provides free training for communities, organisations and schools in the life-saving skills you need when someone goes into cardiac arrest.

The London Ambulance Charity will begin fundraising for the campaign to support the London Lifesavers team so they can continue teaching CPR to Londoners and school children.

Come along to the next London Lifesavers pop-up sessions at London Zoo on Friday 29 August between 10am-3pm.

Find out about the London Ambulance Charity Heart Starters campaign to fund more defibrillators for the capital and sign up for the charity’s flagship fundraising event, the London Life Hike on Sunday 27 September.