The Woman and the Escalator

My friend and me were heading to the bakery in St Gs Centre to grab some lunch the other day (after a lot of laborious tasks in the Red Cross office, like moving furniture and sorting through several bags of first aid equipment) and as we were away to order something, we heard a screech and a clatter from behind. We looked round to see an elderly woman clinging onto the banister of the escalator, her walking stick lying at the bottom of the steps. In the second it takes to click your fingers my friend and I were in "first aider mode". I ran forwards and pressed the emergency stop button on the escalator, and climbed the now stationary steps to help stabilise the woman who was clearly taken aback by her sudden fall (no surprise like!). Meanwhile, my friend dashed off to nab gloves from the nearby 'Subway'.
Together we got a chair for the woman, and a security guard fetched us the store first aid kit, while we got to work calming the woman down and making sure she was alright. My mate noticed one of her legs was bleeding, so she cleaned it and bandaged it. The cuts and bashes on that leg weren't too bad, however as she tied off the bandage, I noticed her other leg was bleeding a considerable amount more. We rolled up her trouser leg to see a worryingly deep (surprisingly clotted) gash that was uncomfortably close to a vein. So we cleaned it again, and bandaged it (we had to use two for that wound) while a security guard brought us a wheelchair. Luckily, her husband could drive and he fetched the car while the store first aider (who had very graciously left us to deal with the incident) wheeled her away to be taken to A&E.
As soon as the woman had left, my friend and I helped clear up and then switched back into the "every-day regular person mode", returning to the bakery to do what we had initially intended to do; grab some lunch.

This incident was on the whole a rather smooth-running one. Our casualty was incredibly calm despite what had just happened, and I was awful worried that she was in shock or something, however on asking her if she felt any of the usual symptoms (dizziness, queasiness, etc) she said she was fine. Also she was very grateful, as were the security guards and store first aider, and it was nice of them all to say thank you. What felt really good was being able to say to the security guard, "It's ok, we're first aiders of the British Red Cross," and then later hear him say to the store first aider, "It's alright, they're first aiders with the British Red Cross; they know what they're doing." Talk about feeling a sense of pride! The whole thing was quite nerve-wracking too, in the sense that we had a bit of an audience, i.e all of the shop assistants in the surrounding stores and cafes, plus all the passers-by, plus all the customers sitting in the cafes who were rather enjoying their lunchtime entertainment. A few customers thanked us, and congratulated us on our efforts, which was nice of them too, and most were surprised to see us jump up and head straight off to buy food as though nothing had happened (despite us both being slightly covered in the blood of our casualty).

It was different, treating someone when not on duty, and I'm surprised by - and of course pleased with - our immediate reactions to the situation. It just shows how firmly our training is drummed into our heads. It's almost like a second instinct now, or something.
I really hope that woman is alright now, and that her injuries weren't too serious. I especially hope she remains unfased by the incident, and that she'll make a good recovery.