Over the past two and half years, councillor for Old Malden Ward, Mike Massimi has been working to make Old Malden ward not only one of the safest in London but also one of the most prepared and equipped for emergencies.

On Sunday, 8 December, the council held its fifth free AED/CPR training session in Old Malden, with over 30 residents taking part.

This brings the total to more than 120 residents trained in the past 15 months.

Alongside this, Old Malden now has nine fully secured, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) installed across Old Malden, available 24/7 to serve the community.

Old Malden now has nine fully secured, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) installed across Old Malden, available 24/7 to serve the community (Credit: Cllr Mike Massimi)

In a city where ambulance response times can vary due to demand, having a prepared and trained community is essential.

In an exclusive interview with Kingston Nub, Cllr Massimi said: "Minutes can mean the difference between life and death in a cardiac emergency, and these initiatives are empowering our Old Malden residents with the skills and tools they need to act decisively in critical moments.

"I've loved seeing the enthusiasm and commitment from our residents, as well as the incredible support from St. John Ambulance.

I give a special thanks go to our local trainer, Hazel, who has been instrumental in delivering these sessions.

"Together, we're making Old Malden a leader in community safety."

Speaking about the training sessions, Cllr Massimi said: "I think the training as well as raising awareness and working with local groups and all the churches on how to act in case of an accident and how to provide CPR or how to use the defibrillators for people that might not have been trained in school or in the past is really important.

"Right now, we've got just over 120 residents who have been training or retraining in the last year and a half, and hopefully that's going to continue."

He added: "It's also a way for people to become empowered to take action and also to give them the confidence and the tools so that it's muscle memory to know how to act and how to behave the day you are faced with a challenge or, or risk or threats so that response factor would come back much, much quicker."

The training sessions are free and open to everyone, regardless of prior experience.

There are usually groups of around 20 to 30 people depending on the day.

At the training sessions, attendees will learn how to act in case of an accident, how to provide CPR, and how to use the defibrillators (Credit: Cllr Mike Massimi)

The sessions are often in places where "there is a congregation, or a church, or a hall where people can attend," says Cllr Massimi.

"We have people coming from Epsom and New Malden as well as people from various cultural communities in the area, and the sessions are provided with the support of a very active resident who is quite well known within Saint John's Ambulance and with all the cadets and all the scouts."

Cllr Massimi explained that he started this project  because he realised that "there's a real lack of life saving skills.

So, he said, " When I found out that Central Ambulance could provide a no cost for resident practical training, I thought, this is this is too good to miss."

.Over the past 15 months, Cllr Massimi has seen this initiative help "save lives".

He said: "When I've seen the defibrillators have been used, I get over as soon as they are accessed because there's a lock and it's on the emergency service system.

"I get notifications because I need to go and maintain and replace the pad and check and reactivate them for the next emergency.

"The one we installed on Malden Road between Worcester Park and the shop has been used numerous times, probably on a monthly basis, because of the high amount of traffic and because of it being a catchment area that's used by many residents."

He continued: "I've seen an empowering sense of community and resilience."

Three quarters of the ward's council funding has gone on this project.

Cllr Massimi has just received funding for bleed control kits, which he'll be installing in all the defibrillator kits this weekend.

He said: "This is something that has been rolled out in other places, like Bristol and is something that we are way behind on in London."

Old Malden will be the first ward in all of London to equip the entire network of secured cabinets, which are accessible 24/7 with a bleed control kit, which can be used by anyone at any time.

Cllr Massimi explained that people often think of London as having a lot of knife crime, however with Old Malden being one of the safest wards in the city, it is much more akin to seeing road traffic accidents, motorcycle accidents, or gardening and scaffolding accidents.

Cllr Massimi has been a councillor in Old Malden for two and a half years and is incredibly passionate about making Old Malden one of the safest wards in London.

Speaking about why this is so important to him, he said: "It's important because part of the mandate that I've been elected is around making the ward safe and greener.

"You can never be safe enough, but by working very closely with the police and emergency services as well as shop owners and residents I am doing my best to achieve these things. "This is all part of why Old Malden is, according to crime data, considered as one of the safest wards.

"In terms of safety, I believe that community resilience and preparedness are really important.

"Old Malden is one of the top ten out of 625 wards in London in terms of those lifesaving defibrillator kits."

He continued: "It's all well and good to wait and to assume that we have all the support we need from the police and from the emergency services. But the reality is, emergency response has increased by 20% in the last five years to above eight minutes.

"And if you wait for someone to turn up, sometimes you should want to find a hand or you need a hand, and you find it at the end of your arms.

"This is the approach. So, it's about trying to be more resilient and building a tighter and stronger community when you know that people are always going to be watching out for each of us."

In his time as a councillor, Cllr Massimi has also done "a lot of work with the PCSO the B.C., and local police in terms of a lot of unmarked stuff they should check".

He is also quite active in carrying out spot speed checks, having done around eight in the last 12 months.

He said: "So usually every six weeks, we have a team because we do not have any speed cameras, but we know that based on resident feedback, they have some hotspots.

"So, we've enforced this and installed some CCTV cameras for fly tipping, which means that we are now the ward with the lowest numbers of reported fly tipping.

"And when they are issued, they are usually cleared. And we now enforce also a tougher penalty because we do trace and track the perpetrators, which, I have zero tolerance for as a ward councillor."