Deliveroo riders are renowned for delivering great food from Britain’s best-known local restaurants, but now many of them will also have the skills to deliver first aid in an emergency thanks to first aid training rolled out by the leading food delivery platform.
The company has just announced plans to provide 3,000 riders worldwide with access to First Aid training. The LifeCycle training programme, 1,500 riders in the UK and 10% of its overall global rider network become equipped with life-saving skills that can benefit the communities they work in.
Two-hour training sessions, delivered by the British Red Cross, have begun across the UK in cities including London, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Brighton, Bristol and Nottingham.
Participants will gain skills and confidence in dealing with emergencies, including dealing with scenarios such as finding someone unresponsive and not breathing to dealing with choking in adults, children and babies. The initiative aims to tackle the problem of people not receiving lifesaving first aid in advance of the emergency services getting to the scene.
Deliveroo’s plans for first aid training were set in motion after research commissioned by the British Red Cross in January 2018 showed that just 5% of adults have the skills and confidence to provide first aid in emergency situations.
The benefits of a LifeCycle initiative were made clear after the company received a message from a passer-by who said they witnessed a Deliveroo rider in Edinburgh helping a stranger on the street in need of medical help. According to the passer-by, the rider jumped off his bike and immediately offered assistance whilst directing companions to call the emergency services.
New research to accompany the launch of LifeCycle finds that 73% of people have had computer skills training but just 66% have received any kind of first aid training. Britons would be more confident wiring a plug (68%) and making a roast dinner for a group (77%) than administering first aid to someone (45%).
The study of 2,061 Brits also found that more than 6 in 10 (62%) for 18-24-year-olds were not confident administering first aid and a majority of Britons are not confident in their knowledge to correctly administer first aid to people who are not breathing (59%) or breathing but unconscious (55%).
Dan Warne, Managing Director of Deliveroo UK and Ireland, said, 'I’m really proud of the fact that our riders consistently go above and beyond day in, day out when making deliveries. Our riders are a force for good, present in cities and neighbourhoods across the UK and we wanted to make sure they had the skills to match.
“We hope that by offering this training, riders will feel empowered to use these new skills if needed, which could make a real difference to people in the communities that we work in.
“With so few people feeling confident enough to help in a situation where someone is injured, we’re delighted to be able to equip riders with the skills and knowledge that will serve them well in life and in their careers.”
Marcelo, who has been a Deliveroo rider for two years, said, “I was very interested in the first aid training because I have come across a couple of situations already where I have helped people while out riding. One was six weeks ago when I helped a man who was hit by a lorry and had hurt his leg and was on the floor.
“I wanted to do the training to learn more about what to do in an emergency and also because I have a five-year-old son I think it’s important to know first aid.
“The training has helped me learn things such as how important it is to make sure someone can breathe, that I didn’t know before. It was very useful.”
Joe Mulligan, Head of First Aid Education at British Red Cross, said, “We all hope that someone would be able to help us in an emergency, but research from the British Red Cross shows that few people feel they have the skills and confidence to act in some of the most serious situations.
“In the same way that everybody knows to call 999 when someone is unresponsive and not breathing, we need to make sure that people know what to do until the ambulance arrives.
“We believe that everyone should know these simple yet vital skills. Working with Deliveroo to train some of its riders in first aid will not only raise further awareness but could potentially save lives.”