Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre refuses use of defib to aid collapsed man

Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre

The Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre in Rochdale refused to allow their defibrillator to be taken to aid a man who had collapsed on Cheetham Street on Monday (15 August).

Daniel Calvert, Operations Director at Bamford Contract Services, said: “A man collapsed outside our office on Cheetham Street, Rochdale.

“Staff from the office went out to assist him whilst I rang the ambulance.

“Another member of staff ran to the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre for the defibrillator.

“They spoke to a cleaner to ask where it was, the cleaner spoke to a centre manager who refused to let them take it off the premises.

“The staff member came back to the office whilst I was still on the phone to the ambulance service, I told them what had happened and they were horrified.

“The man could have died.

“Fortunately the ambulance arrived quickly and treated the man who they then took to hospital.”

A North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokesperson said: “A defibrillator can only save a life if it‘s in working order and able to be used, so it would be extremely disappointing, if for whatever reason, one nearby wasn’t available in an emergency as that could mean the difference between life and death.”

Asked to comment, Debbie Hernon, Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre manager, said Sally Taylor, who "manages the contract security on site", would respond.

Ms Taylor did reply (on behalf of Care FM and The Wheatsheaf management) but avoided addressing why use of the defibrillator was refused, she said: "Our thoughts are with the gentleman who was taken ill on Cheetham Street in Rochdale, and we hope he has a full and speedy recovery.

"We would like to state that all our security officers are fully trained first aiders and AED trained for incidents within the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre, and they undergo rigorous and frequent reviews.

"We pride ourselves on being a responsible and people centric business and the provision and access to work place defibrillators within our clients' place of work is very much in line with our CSR policy."

Mark Foxley, from Rochdale Town Centre Management, said: “Businesses in the Town Centre, with ourselves, have funded and fitted three new public defibrillators over the last 12 months, and arranged NWAS training sessions. We value our relationship with NWAS, and are keen to continue our work together to ensure our partnership can learn from past experiences."