Street Angels save woman's life

6:44am Monday 12th May 2008

Bradford volunteer group Street Angels saved the life of a young woman who collapsed outside a city centre nightclub after her drink was apparently spiked.

The group lived up to its name after the woman, who is believed to be in a critical condition in hospital, collapsed and stopped breathing.

The medical staff who resuscitated her believe her drink had been spiked with a mixture of cocaine and the horse tranquilliser ketamine.

The Street Angels group, which patrols Bradford city centre on weekend nights, was called to the club at around midnight, after management became concerned for another reveller.

However, when the three-strong group arrived on the scene it was a second woman, believed to be in her early twenties, who collapsed and stopped breathing.

Jennifer Chambers, 21, who was on patrol that night, said: "We received the call at around midnight to a club in the West End. The venue management had put out a request for an ambulance for a different casualty. While we were treating that individual the young woman, who was a friend of hers, came out into the street and collapsed.

"When we send a patrol out, there are usually three Angels, one of whom is always medically trained. When we realised the woman had stopped breathing, we immediately began to resuscitate her and worked on her until the ambulance and paramedics arrived.

"It felt like hours but from start to finish the incident probably lasted twenty minutes. The woman was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary and we carried on with our shift."

Street Angels co-ordinator John Dinsdale was full of praise for the way his colleagues acted at the incident on Saturday, April 12.

He said: "Our medic team was first to the scene and, according to the paramedics, saved the woman's life. The volunteers did an excellent, very professional job.

"Fortunately, this kind of incident is not common but we were involved in another serious incident just before Christmas when a young man fell in front of a car on Prince's Way and was killed.

"We were first on the scene at that incident too and helped paramedics and police protect the scene. That's what we're there to do. We don't want these kind of incidents to happen, but when they do we will hopefully be there to help."

As a result of the group's life-saving actions, Bradford and Airedale Primary Care Trust has donated a new defibrillator to the Street Angels to enable them to continue their vital work.

The Street Angels were founded last November and work closely with West Yorkshire Police and the Ambulance Service in their bid to tackle binge drinking and street crime.

Although their numbers have swollen from an initial 40 volunteers to almost double that, the group is always looking for additional assistance.

Mr Dinsdale said: "We have 75 volunteers on our books but we are always seeking new members. Many of our volunteers are students, so at certain times of year we become a bit short handed."

Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact John Dinsdale on 07779 033458.

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