Do you remember the tragic story few years ago of the man who lay dying on a busy street in Peterborough as shoppers walked past him?
It was 2 hours before anyone called for help, but by then it was too late
Depressing as it sounds, this was far from a one-off case. There are many reasons why people don’t help, but research paints a picture of a nation growing increasingly worried about ‘doing the wrong thing’ or being sued if something goes wrong.
‘Common sense’
Given this climate of uncertainty to act in public situations, the new
Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill(applicable to England and Wales) is good news. In basic terms, it brings some common sense back to Britain and gives credence to those tackling the educational challenge of increasing willingness to act.
As the Queen told Parliament, the Bill offers reassurance that “where a person acts heroically, responsibly or for the benefit of others, this will be taken into account by the courts".
Bystander effect
The truth is, it’s hard enough anyway to find the courage to step forward and help someone in trouble, particularly in a public space, however strong your sense of social responsibility. The ‘
Bystander Effect’is a well-researched phenomenon showing that the more people there are at an incident, the less likely anyone is to help.
And if people think doing the right thing is going to lead to trouble, the Bystander Effect just gives them another incentive to stand by and do nothing.
The fact is that this isn’t necessarily about heroism: it’s about doing the decent thing and helping someone in trouble, in exactly the way that each of us would want to be helped if we were in that situation.
Step forward
This effect can take extreme forms. Two years ago, Brigitte Bellwood
saved an elderly man’s lifeat an airport shortly after completing a Red Cross
first aid course.
What sticks in her mind is that, when the man first collapsed and stopped breathing, no-one else moved to help.
She recalled: “There were 150 passengers on that plane but everyone just looked down. Not a person moved. Not one.”
Interestingly, the course Brigitte had just been on was a research course to study the impact that new activities would have on the confidence of the learner to act in an emergency. The course moved beyond just learning first aid skills and included activities which allowed the learner to explore why they would or would not step forward to help a stranger.
Needless to say, the British Red Cross now incorporates these activities into all its first aid training as a matter of course – if it makes the learning more effective, it’s worth including.
Ultimately we shouldn’t rely on legislation for people to help each other, but if we can use it to remove one of the obstacles to action then it can’t be a bad thing.
So if you see someone who needs help in future, step forward with confidence. The law is on your side.
Joe Mulligan is Head of First Aid Education at the British Red Cross. Find more information
here
.