It takes one to know lifesaving techniques, but to put it into practice takes a tremendous amount of courage in real life. For Customer Service Officer Nur Aishah Mohamed Roslan, and Safety and Security Officers Balakrishnan Gopinathan and Ram Kumar, it is their first encounter with a life and death situation like this one. 

On 12 September 2020, a cleaner collapsed at one of the male toilets in YewTee Point. Aishah was manning the Customer Service Counter when a shopper came forth to notify her. Simultaneously, Bala and Ram were doing their rounds when another cleaner alerted them that his colleague had fainted in the toilet.

Being first responders to the scene, Aishah, Bala and Ram took it upon themselves to perform resuscitation prior to the arrival of paramedics. “A member of the public called 995, and by putting them on loudspeaker throughout our resuscitation efforts, the SCDF was able to get real time updates as we did our thing. I think this really helped because they were able to take over the situation swiftly when they arrived,” said Aishah. 

The resuscitation effort was not without its challenges. “The toilet was cramped and wet, and we did not have time to waste in trying to shift the cleaner to another location. We did the best we could under those circumstances, and it was extremely pressurising with the crowd forming outside the toilet,” said Bala.

Together, Aishah, Bala and Ram performed performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and administered two shocks of automatic external defibrillator (AED) before the paramedics arrived on the scene. 

“It would not have been possible without teamwork. If either of us had to do it solo, we wouldn’t have been able to put it off,” recounted Ram.

“We were all heartened by how the community came together to provide support as well. The safe distancing ambassadors helped us keep curious shoppers away, and another mall security officer helped direct the paramedics to the Level 1 toilet. Some shoppers also came forward to ask if any help was required,” said Aishah.

Bala and Ram receives first aid refresher courses every year to ensure that they can perform their duties effectively. “I am very thankful to the company for providing us with refresher courses every year, otherwise we would not have been able to help revive the cleaner,” said Ram.

Thanks to Aishah, Bala and Ram’s quick thinking and courageous act, the cleaner is now on the road to recovery. To commend their efforts, they received a commendation as a community first responder from the SCDF, as well as the Frasers Stars Award and Workplace Safety and Health Award. The Frasers Stars Award is awarded to staff who have gone out of the way to create a positive experience and displayed Frasers Property’s core values, and the Workplace Safety and Health Award is also presented to staff in recognition of their outstanding efforts and contributions in fostering a culture of safety and health in the workplace.

Their inspiring story also caught media attention, making them local heroes in the community. They were featured on Channel News Asia, Lianhe Zaobao, Berita Harian, Berita Mediacorp, Tamil Seithi and Goody Feed amongst other news and media outlets.