Supermarkets Revisited

Just got back to my desk following an incident in a major supermarket (I wont name them as I intend to write to the manager and this chain should know better).

A young woman had fitted and fallen unconscious in an isle.  I got there a few seconds later and her friends had done everything correctly providing padding during the fit and putting her in the recovery position.  I introduced myself as a  first aider and was told she should be fine as this had happened before

Given her friends knew the drill, for the moment she was fine in the recovery position (not her first fit ever, hadn't reached 10 mins unconscious so no immediate ambulance requirement).  When someone does come round and is postictal, it's better they have someone they know nearby and are not crowded than having an unknown first aider with no uniform on (and of the opposite sex) keeping an eye on them.

However, during this time a small crowd of concerned shoppers had gathered and were asking why there wasn't a member of staff there to make sure they were ok.  It was prudent to get one of the store first aiders as a matter of emergency to make sure that she had some privacy, and in case her condition worsened and an ambulance was required as the first aiders would know the store address and be able to better direct the ambulance to the scene.

First, I let the security guard at the door (who was carrying a radio) know what had happened and he didn't know how to call for first aid and suggested I tried the customer services desk.  The woman at the desk there was talking to a customer on the phone but noticed that I had been directed over.  I interrupted her to tell her that a woman was unconscious in the aisle and had suffered a fit and was told 'Dont interrupt me - I'm on the phone'.  I told her again in case she hadn't heard and was told 'I know, don't be rude'.  The customer on the phone could have been asked to hold for a moment but wasn't and the conversation continues with them (they must have been incredibly confused).

I then promptly proceeded to press the hook button  on the phone on the counter to get 'How dare you - that was so rude - I was on the phone to a customer!' Whereby I politely but firmly explained that she had a duty of care to her customers and she should call a first aider immediately which she sheepishly did.  I should also note that she called them to customer services rather than the isle in question and there was no sense of urgency in the message

I went back to check on the girl who was coming round so I kept my distance and let her friends comfort her.  A first aider was radioed again around 10 minutes later but nobody ever showed up by the time the girl was happily back on her feet.

I'm incredibly shocked by this chain of events.  I guess the moral is that if you are in a supermarket, don't rely on their first aid staff, hope there are people there to help and call an ambulance yourself if one is required...