OPERATION SAFEKILLIE

PRESERVE, PREVENT & PROTECT

Gill Sherry

Ryan Quinn and his partner, Emma Laird, both have full-time jobs. They also have a young family – a two-year-old and a four-year-old. Let’s be honest, that already sounds exhausting! Add to that a voluntary service that means long hours and late nights, and the couple begin to sound super-human.

But it’s not superpowers that keep Ryan and Emma going, it’s dedication, the willingness to help others, and a desire for their hometown of Kilmarnock to be a safe place for all.

“Operation SafeKillie is something we’d been thinking about for some time,” Ryan tells me. “It came about because of the rise in violence that was happening in the local bus station. People were getting injured through anti-social behaviour or through no fault of their own and were having to wait longer and longer for an A&E ambulance to get to them. So we built up a plan and we launched on Halloween 2025.”

How exactly does it work?

“The whole idea behind it is that every weekend and during busy times, we’re in the town centre. We’ve got communications between the bus station, all the bars, the local night clubs etc, and if anyone becomes ill or injured, or if there’s any anti-social behaviour, a group of us will respond to it.”

Reading between the lines, is it safe to assume that both Ryan and Emma are from a medical or emergency response background?

“Medically, I’ve been in the industry for 15 years, Emma for 7-8 years. After multiple failed employments with various different companies… we decided to start up on our own and go solo with ER Medical.”

The main purpose of ER Medical is to provide first-aid training. This can be delivered within company environments, but the organisation also provides a service at festivals, galas, sporting events and other public occasions.

“SafeKillie was always on the horizon,” Ryan continues, “but we never really took the jump. It wasn’t until, over a six-month period, every single weekend without fail, someone was getting seriously injured in the bus station through anti-social behaviour.”

Operation SafeKillie is a not-for-profit organisation which currently has ten volunteers, including Ryan and Emma, working alongside the police to reduce crime and major incidents in the town centre.

“Obviously the police can’t be everywhere. The idea was to put a high-vis presence in the town centre. Kilmarnock’s not a huge town centre – it’s big but it’s not huge – so people in high-vis are very noticeable. They stick out like a sore thumb, basically.”

Which was exactly the intention. And that high-vis presence is now visible every Friday from 7pm until 2.30am and every Saturday from 7pm until 4am, plus during key events such as Halloween, Hogmanay and major football fixtures.

The initiative has the full support of the police, and local ambulance crews also work well with the team.

“We’re not a replacement for the NHS,” Ryan clarifies. “What we’re trying to do is take the pressure off the NHS. We’ve briefed the door staff etc that for more serious things like cardiac arrest, they should always phone 999 and then us, so it’s a joint response. For the more minor stuff, they’ll just phone us and we’ll go and assess it. If it’s outwith our scope of practice obviously we phone in the additional help, or we’ll treat and discharge, or treat and transport to hospital.”

Have they seen a reduction in the number of incidents since Operation SafeKillie began?

“A massive one. When we first started, we were never away from the bus station. They were smashing buses up, causing havoc, setting off fireworks… but we built a good relationship with the young people, and I think having that relationship has made them think twice. Certainly, in the last four or five weeks, I can’t remember one incident in the bus station.”

Whilst there is no hard evidence that this reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour is the direct result of Operation SafeKillie, at the very least it must surely have helped.

“It could be sheer luck,” Ryan suggests, “It’s hard to say that one particular thing has caused the reduction, but certainly there’s been a big improvement since we started going out.”

I’m more than willing to believe that the presence of Ryan, Emma and their team of volunteers has helped to improve the safety of Kilmarnock town centre. But wouldn’t they rather be tucked up at home in bed?

“It’s hard going. We’ve got a young family, and we’re trying to run SafeKillie on top of that, and then there’s ER Medical on top of that. We’re out every week and we don’t really get a day off. Sunday seems to be a day where we collapse into bed and don’t get back out of it but even then, when you’ve got young kids, you’re still up and about. Right now, it’s a seven day a week job, 24/7. It feels like it anyway!”

Their commitment is all the more remarkable when you realise that the operation is totally self-funded by Ryan and Emma, who don’t seek praise for their efforts, but merely wish for Kilmarnock town centre to remain a safe place to be. Encouraging others to adopt the same thinking, is high on their list of priorities.

“Every weekend is different,” Ryan reflects. “Obviously the number one thing is intoxication, that’s just life. Over and above that it’s fights. Right now, we’re trying to portray the message that it’s not worth it and trying to get people to understand that it only takes one hit and that’s two lives ruined forever. It’s not worth a lifetime of regret. That’s the message we try and portray.”

Hence the tagline: Preserve, Prevent & Protect.

For more information,
visit www.ermedical.co.uk/safekillie.