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Royal wedding parties could be scuppered by lack of first aiders
Tuesday 30th November 2010, 2:00PM GMT.
Street parties to celebrate next year’s royal wedding could be scuppered in one Shropshire town because of a lack of qualified first aiders in the area, it has been claimed.
Fay Lund, a support member of St John Ambulance in Ludlow, said it had just one qualified first aider.
She said events to celebrate the royal wedding would need public liability insurance – including first aid cover which she claims will not be there.
She said the charity regularly appealed for volunteers in the area in recent years without any success.
Shropshire Council bosses have insisted they are trying to make it easier for people to hold street parties by reducing red tape and paperwork involved.
The wedding is due to take place on April 29 at Westminster Abbey and, in an echo of the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, street parties are expected to be held in communities across the country.
Mrs Lund said: “St John Ambulance is almost defunct in Ludlow – we have hardly any first aiders to provide cover.
“With the royal wedding coming up people will be wanting to have street parties – but to do so they will need public liability insurance and that includes having a first aider on call.
“I don’t know what people are going to do in the Ludlow area.
“We either need a lot more volunteers to carry out training or people will have to think very seriously about how they are going to celebrate the wedding.
“This situation of a lack of first aiders has been a problem for some time. We have held a number of publicity and recruitment events to get people in but the people of Ludlow don’t seem to be interested.”
Ron Buzzacott, Shropshire Council’s traffic manager, said: “We understand that street parties and fetes are a traditional part of community life – they are a simple way for us to get to know our neighbours and meet members of our community.
“Therefore, we are currently working closely with Telford and Wrekin Council and West Mercia Police to make it easier for people to hold these sorts of local events, without having to plough through mountains of forms and red tape.
“This will be in place at the start of next year – in plenty of time for the royal wedding celebrations in April.
“If the street party is a non-profit making event we will not charge for the road closure.”
Anyone interested in volunteering for St John Ambulance can call (01584) 872992.
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Has the country gone politically correct mad.
We seem to have managed quite nicely on Royal marriages, coronations and all the street parties and celebrations in the past.
Now all the celebrations are in jeopardy because we don’t have enough “first aiders” and of course insurance companies are sticking their oars innowadays.
Their is an easy solution. Most factories and workplaces have several qualified “first aiders” I’m sure if ambulance stations contacted work places and asked for volunteers their problem could disappear and everyone can have their street parties etc
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Not to mention that the council would have to go through the expense of going through the rigmarole of putting out road closure notices which are required by law.
The days when the Smiths and Jones set up their tables in the street and brought out bowls of jelly and plates of curled up cheese and tomato sandwiches are long gone…
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Jelly ? Sandwiches ? I remember the Smiths as being a particularly dour bunch especially that chap swinging gladioli about.
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The problem is we live in a state where everyone in liable, if someone injures them self by accident they will sue if the organisers don’t have adequate First Aiders to help them.
It’s nothing to with Political Correctness or nanny state, it’s because of the “no win no fee” Sue them them brigade, if you have an accident it’s no-ones fault, if there isn’t someone there to give you first aid it’s no-ones fault.
People need to Man-Up and get on with it, and allow others to enjoy their lives without fear of being taken to court for no reason!
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I went to the party in Castle Square, Ludlow for the Charles and Diana Wedding in 1981… there was a pig roast I recall … all went off without a hitch … I dont remember any residential streets being closed though … but maybe I just forgot …
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Why not just have a notice like they do at motor racing events – “Street parties are dangerous. By attending you accept that you are there at your own risk”. Its about time the government stamped out the blame culture and all the attendant blood suckers that sprang up with it.
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Obviously this article is just a recruitment drive by the St John’s Ambulance, but is there anything more naff than a royal wedding street party?
I’d be looking to move house if I found out that any of my neighbours were planning such a thing?
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How have I managed to live so long? in this hazardous risky life without the protection of the ‘elf and softy’ brigade, Lets have a bit of common sense and less PC
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Jeffrey Borra. I am nearly 70 and agree with you. How we have managed to live without all this H/S rubbish I don’t know, every day there are people telling you what to do and what is best for you. I have a good brain, and I shall do what I like and nobody will stop me. If I want to put flags up and tables and chairs outside, for all the children that is my business and nobody will tell me otherwise.As you can guess when I read this I was wild.
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I can’t see how this should have anything to do with the authorities other than to give agreement for a road closure. If the event is being organised by individuals all getting together and organising the event, ie each perhaps bringing something to the party how can anybody be sued? The only person with responsibility would be the ‘injured’ person themselves (or their parent/guardian)- you are responsible for your own safety if you want to attend the party. Yes, accidents happen, but hopefully people will apply common sense on the day and deal between them with anything they are presented with. Of course it helps if people can do first aid – many people now have basic first aid training at work anyway don’t they? Easy and lets get rid of this ridiculous litigious society.
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A combination of made-up hysteria about the H & S bogeyman, and a recruiting drive on behalf of St. Johns ambulance.
There really is no problem with our Health and Safety law – the problem invariably lies with silly individuals who insist on adding their own very narrow interpretations, and the number of people willing to shriek ‘Health and safety gone mad!’ when they see a sensationalist tabloid headline on the matter.
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Most comments submitted already said it all. PC gone mad. HSE gone mad. We manage for the other 364 days of the year by ourselves don’t we? (or 365 days if there’s not a royal wedding?) Why must we suddenly become accident prone or at risk just because there’s a royal wedding? Why do I choose to live & work outside the UK? Because I am totally fed up with the nanny state, the US inspired sue everybody culture & the jobs-worths who make a living out of objecting to the average man in the street’s freedom to enjoy him/her self if they choose to. So there.
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