Wolverhampton Heroes Recognised – Virgin Trains

Published on : Saturday, December 14, 2013

Wolverhampton Railway Station is celebrating after its Station Manager Dave Whitehouse, members of his team, and the station itself, received awards from the West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Dave Whitehouse (Station Manager), Steve Wade (Platform CSA), Stuart Vickers (Platform CSA), Kim Weaver Davis (RPI) and Raj Parkesh (Platform CSA) have all been involved in incidents this year at Wolverhampton where they have successfully resuscitated two passengers; one of them being Norman Brotherton who suffered a heart attack whilst on a rail replacement bus.
Norman and wife Jean were on their way to Yorkshire for a week’s holiday on Saturday 30 March 2013 when they were told the train they were due to catch had been cancelled and a rail replacement bus service arranged. Moments after the couple boarded, Norman stopped breathing. Fortunately for him, staff from the train station who were helping passengers knew exactly how to act. Dave, Stuart, Steve and Kim jumped onto the bus and gave him life-saving CPR and defibrillation until the ambulance arrived.
Norman has since recovered from his ordeal and said, “I don’t know anything at all about that day or for two days after. All I know is that I was sitting on a bus and I died. The staff at the train station are wonderful people and I owe them my life.”
The heroic acts which took place in both incidences this year were commended by West Midlands Ambulance Service at the Excellence in the Community Awards which took place on Thursday 7 November 2013. The Railway Station itself also received an award in recognition of the efforts the business puts into training staff in first aid.
Ian Painter from the British Heart Foundation, who was at the awards, praised Wolverhampton for this success story and described Virgin Trains as an “industry leader” when it comes to defibrillators and training staff.
Dave Whitehouse said, “It’s an immensely proud moment for me, not only to be commended, but to be the Manager of a station with such courageous and skilled staff. They are all a credit to this business and their respective station.”
Over the summer of 2013, Virgin Trains made sure all Train Managers were trained to use Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) which are now fitted to all our Pendolino Trains.