Alcohol is flooding our health system
January 27, 2013 at 12:07 am | Posted in Security | 2 CommentsTags: alcohol, BYO, child, death, drinking, duty of care, event, hospital, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, secondary supply, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
WA’s new party laws won’t prevent this.
Here’s a lovely article that I read with interest, then dismay: Drunk callouts swamp ambos.
Did you know that Western Australia’s stretched ambulance crews are treating ten drunks a day?!
I find this and other figures sobering.
What a pity other people don’t!
Lie of the land
In WA, more than seven teenagers a week are taken to hospital for intoxication.
Unfortunately, the State’s new reactive party legislation will not prevent alcohol abuse at teen and young adult events.
Whether these parties have supplied or BYO alcohol, it must be managed and served properly.
The only way parents can ensure this is to have an alcohol management plan that includes Responsible Serving of Alcohol.
If they don’t, more and more children will be carted off to hospital – or worse.
Shame game
Parents who collect their intoxicated son or daughter from a party should ask (or be asked) a serious question:
How did they allow this to happen to their child?
I have first-hand experience of parents who’ve:
- Picked up their unconscious child from a party.
- Detoured to a hospital to get their kid’s stomach pumped.
- Collected a kid from hospital who was rushed by ambulance from a party.
- Sent the party host the ambulance and/or hospital bill!
Seriously: does this look like a recipe for ‘good times’ to you?
Parental guidance
It’s really quite simple: adults hosting events must be made accountable
Until we have a party management system that requires parents to apply for a permit that ensures they fully discharge their duty of care, kids will continue to end up in hospitals.
And coffins.
So what will it take?
Must we wait until your family is torn apart by (totally preventable) injury and loss?
The answer is right in front of you.
Please read this and think about it!
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
It’s NO ‘accident’!
July 16, 2012 at 7:34 am | Posted in Security | 2 CommentsTags: accident, alcohol, car, crash, death, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, party, Party Plan Checklist, prevention, safe parties, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
Youth + Intoxication = Disaster.
In my view, an accident is something you have no control over.
If, for instance:
- you’re driving a car;
- a large spider drops on you from behind the sun visor and
- you crash into a tree,
that’s an accident.
If, on the other hand:
- you’re rushing and driving at speed;
- you tailgate the car in front of you and
- you rear-end them when they brake,
that’s no accident.
That’s plain carelessness.
Media scrum
Sadly, the tragedies listed below were no accident.
Had proper planning been in place, these teen celebrations would have been spared the associated injury and death:
- Five young men killed in high speed crash.
- Young girl killed and four injured in smash.
- Dead girl’s friends claim drink was spiked with ecstasy.
- Man stabbed in chest after house party.
- Man who died after king hit ‘wanted a fight’.
- One dead and three injured in car ‘accident’.
When is enough enough?!
To protect our children from serious injury and death, parents wanting to hold a teen event must:
- Apply for a party permit.
- Have a proper party plan in place.
- Discharge their duty of care to guests and the community before, during and after the event.
But until we introduce legislation to ensure parents do these things, we’re doomed to witness yet more carnage.
Parents must realise it isn’t just about their child’s celebration. Failing to plan an event can all-too-easily lead to the planning of funerals.
As a parent of a teenager myself, I beg you to act responsibly and support my positive proposal for change.
Unless, of course, your child’s happiness and welfare mean nothing to you.
In which case our society is surely lost.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Death rattle
June 12, 2012 at 7:05 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: crowd control, death, drinking, duty of care, event, fight, gang, grievous bodily harm, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, police, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, violence, youth
Our very own killing fields.
What’s up, Western Australia?!
From what we’ve read these last few months, you really are dying to have fun.
Since the start of March, 40 of your teen parties have hit the media for appalling reasons.
In case you’ve been lying drunk in a ditch or king-hit by a bottle, here’s a fool’s guide to the most serious incidents:
25 March. Teen in coma. Police officer kicked unconscious.
1 April. Guest in hospital with serious head injuries from gatecrasher missiles.
6 May. Four teens smashed, slashed and robbed by 30 partygoers.
8 June. Police cars damaged in party violence.
9 June. Machete-wielding thugs fracture teen’s skull and smash property.
These totally preventable situations are injuring your kids, destroying your communities and costing you (and the rest of us!) a fortune in wasted taxes.
When will we see positive action?
How many more children must be maimed to create change in your State?
Are we Australia?
Or Syria?
Parents must be accountable for these events.
As things stand, they don’t need any kind of plan or permit to throw a party for their child.
If your kid were involved in one of the traumas listed above, would you want justice?
If you hold a party that goes wrong, do you really think you’ll avoid a criminal investigation and/or civil suit?
Checking your sickening stats, it’s clear it’s only a matter of time till WA mourns its next dead reveller.
Instead of praying it’s not your child, or hoping for change, why not be the change you want to see?
We need legislative reform. It’s not impossible. It’s not even hard. Here’s the plan. Read it!
Can’t you see the time has come to get with the program?
Or will it take that knock at your door to rouse you from your stupor?
It’s your baby.
Literally.
So show some guts.
And maturity.
Make the call.
Before it’s too late.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Pull the plug on energy drinks!
June 8, 2012 at 10:17 pm | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: alcohol, bottle, drinking, duty of care, energy drink, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, safe parties, secondary supply, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, youth
We must stop playing with fire.
As I continue to lobby government stakeholders in relation to safe teen parties, yet more tragedy unfolds.
Another young life wasted. A death that could have been avoided.
Alcohol-related trauma is one of the biggest issues at teen events. My submission takes a holistic approach to its resolution.
Sadly, it looks like it’s going to take many more deaths (or perhaps the death of a politician’s child?) for any serious legislative change to take place.
At the very least, we can introduce an amendment to the Victorian Government’s new Secondary Supply Legislation.
For instance, if we could:
- include bring your own (BYO) alcohol;
- underline the duty of care of hosts; and
- stress the responsible serving of alcohol,
I’m certain this would dramatically reduce the carnage we see each weekend.
Most of the parties I’ve planned and managed over the years are BYO events. The breakdown of alcohol brought into venues (chiefly homes and halls) is as follows:
- 40% pre-mixed (either commercially packaged booze or home-made hooch like cider bombs).
- 30% beer and wine (bottle and cask).
- 30% energy drinks (either mixed with grog or on their own).
My staff and I manage energy drinks the same as alcohol because we’ve witnessed first-hand how they can dramatically change people and even risk life.
We ensure that all drinks brought into an event are labelled and managed correctly by responsible adults.
That’s the proper execution of the duty of care parents have to kids coming to a party they’ve organised.
Anything less is a recipe for chaos, property damage, personal injury, expensive litigation … and death.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Failure to plan = planning to fail
May 28, 2012 at 3:19 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: accident, child, crowd control, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, legislation, loss, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, Party Plan Checklist, police, safe parties, security, social media, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, youth
How to keep the cops from your door.
The mayhem caused by unplanned teen parties is alarming. With no experience of planning a successful teen event, parents are continually putting kids in harm’s way.
As Managing Director of U-Nome Security and Founder of Safe Partying Australia, I’ve planned and worked at more than 700 teenage parties.
Every weekend, I see first-hand exactly why parties are causing tragedy across our nation.
I often wonder how many injuries in the home result from mismanaged parties. Though this was a mature-aged event, it highlights the risks of homes unsuitable for celebrations.
Sadly, this sort of tragedy is far from rare.
Today’s teen parties are more likely to be held in homes. This is because most public venues no longer support them.
To make things worse, there are many more teen events.
20 years ago, people celebrated turning 21. These days, every birthday from 13 on is seen as ‘significant’.
I believe this spike in birthday celebrations is due to American television now available online or via cable in most homes. Our kids are watching teen movies and music videos that promote the coolness of ‘Sweet 16’ and other birthdays.
So, with more events in more homes, we have problems.
While most private dwellings have limited public liability cover in case something goes wrong, it’s far wiser to prevent problems (and subsequent claims) before they occur.
To this end, I inspect every party venue in advance. The many issues I find and flag include:
- Swimming pools.
- Rickety balconies designed and made for domestic use only.
- Extremely steep stair wells.
- Homes in the middle of renovations.
- Homes on busy roads.
Combine these risk elements with underage drinking and explosive social networking and you literally have a recipe for disaster.
I believe that if we had legislation to protect kids at parties, it would:
- Increase community security.
- Ensure our young people return home safely.
- Minimise injury claims stemming from teen party mayhem.
- Reduce the financial impact on our community (e.g. wasted emergency service call-outs and pressure on our already-stretched health system).
You may think this is all someone else’s problem.
It isn’t.
Will you wait until your child fails to come home?
And two grim-faced police officers wake you at 3 am
with a heart-stopping knock at your door?
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
The west ain’t the best!
May 15, 2012 at 3:50 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: bottle, child, crowd control, event, fight, gang, injury, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, police, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, violence, youth
Heading to a sad state of affairs.
Perth has been having so many major problems with teen parties that I have to say my piece.
Since the start of March, I’ve counted more than 30 teen events that have hit the media for all the wrong reasons.
The most serious incident was last week when gatecrashers attacked, stabbed and hospitalised four young departing guests.
These figures show that emergency service providers are being tied up unnecessarily every weekend.
Dealing with teen party chaos is stopping units from attending (or preventing!) more legitimate jobs such as road accidents, serious assaults and other crimes.
I shudder even to estimate the cost of using our precious police and ambulance services to clean up the messes stupid parents create!
Western Australia’s long coastline and party-friendly climate have a dark side: WA ‘leads’ the nation in teen party mayhem.
As a result, this otherwise impressive State must make radical changes in relation to teen events.
You may think I’m like a computer virus – always popping up in your face.
But if your child doesn’t make it home from their next party, you’ll wish someone (anyone!) had answered these vital questions I keep raising.
Every single party drama I’ve read about could have been avoided if we had suitable legislation in place.
It’s crazy …
You need a permit to own a dog, dig a pool or build a verandah.
Yet you don’t need a permit to responsibly plan and manage an event that ensures the safety of guests, neighbours and the community.
The days of ‘quiet’ teen parties for up to 100 kids are over.
Make a stand, WA, before it’s too late!
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Teen parties & sexual assault
May 2, 2012 at 5:30 am | Posted in Security | 1 CommentTags: alcohol, child, crowd control, death, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, legislation, loss, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, youth
A tragic combination.
The link between teen parties and sexual assault is real and alarming. Here’s the latest horrific story.
How many more times must this happen before we wake up from this nightmare?!
I was recently involved in a situation that resulted in a young birthday boy being charged with sexual assault at a party. Prior to this event, I warned the host parents to control alcohol and organise responsible adults to help manage the party.
Alas, my advice was ignored.
Countless times I’ve seen girls passed out from too much alcohol on vacant blocks near parties. Usually, their girlfriends abandon them to pursue their own (unsafe) sexploits in the bushes and the dark.
Teens leaving parties by themselves is also a common scenario.
In my security company, staff don’t just help parents monitor booze-related issues during an event. At the end of the night, they also engage with kids to convince them to head home with a group of friends or make alternative transport arrangements.
Unfortunately, in most cases, kids with a few drinks under their belt feel invincible.
Worse, there are sick individuals (teen and adult) eager to take advantage of them in and after these events.
Parents who host parties can minimise the risks if they provide adequate duty of care by assigning responsible (and sober!) parents to:
- Monitor bedrooms, toilets and hiding places.
- Establish how guests are getting home.
The latter precaution may prevent kids from walking home alone or entering a vehicle driven by someone who is unlicensed, unknown to them, or too intoxicated to drive.
Each weekend, as I head home at around 2 am from working at a party, I see two or three young women drunk, alone and wearing barely a stitch of clothing.
I firmly believe that legislative change in relation to teen events could prevent the horrendous situations I’ve cited.
I want my kids to get home from parties safely.
How about you?
Click here to learn more.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Death never takes a holiday
November 2, 2011 at 10:57 pm | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: accident, alcohol, crash, crowd control, death, drinking, duty of care, event, injury, kid, Naomi Oakley, parent, prevention, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security
Careful party planning can stop this unwanted guest.
Yet more teenagers died this week.
Seven teens left a Halloween Party in a stolen car and came to grief.
Just 24 hours prior to this, a teenage girl left a party, opted not to get picked up by her parent and got into a boy’s car instead.
Now she’s dead too.
Incredibly, it seems people have forgotten the January 2010 tragedy where five kids died in a vehicle that left a party.
Alcohol was a factor in all these ‘accidents’.
But let’s rewind.
I’ve always believed that if you have adequate safety and security measures at a party, you can prevent tragedy.
You must manage all alcohol at an event, even if it’s BYO.
A host’s duty of care can also extend beyond the event.
Parents organising a party should take reasonable steps to establish how their teenage guests are getting home.
Even if these kids walk out of a party, the question must be asked.
At the very least, doing this may get kids thinking.
You may be able to persuade them take a taxi or wait for parents to collect them.
Managing all aspects of a teen party is extremely important.
If parents don’t have the skills and resources to manage a party properly, they should think about having professional crowd control to monitor and assist them.
By covering every base, we ensure the next teen party doesn’t end in tears.
Naomi Oakley, Founder, Safe Partying Australia.
Too Cool for School
January 24, 2011 at 3:03 am | Posted in Security | 1 CommentTags: alcohol, brain damage, crowd control, drinking, duty of care, event, fight, glassing, grievous bodily harm, law suit, Naomi Oakley, parent, party, Party Plan Checklist, police, prevention, risk, safe parties, security, sue, teen, teenage, teenager, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue, violence, youth
Parents who try to be ‘cool’ with kids do everyone a grave disservice.
I can’t say enough about the duty of care of parents who host parties. Here’s yet another report of a party turned to crap (courtesy of Police News):
‘Police are appealing for information after a party turned ugly at Carrum Downs last Thursday night.
At about 10.30pm on 20 January a group of people turned up unannounced to a Lyrebird Drive residence and were then asked to leave the party.
After the confrontation, a 21 year old Carrum Downs man was stabbed several times in the head and face with a broken bottle.
Another 19 year old man from Skye was also stabbed in the head with the bottle, and another 20 year old Mount Eliza man was stabbed in the back with what is believed to be a screwdriver.
All three men were transported to the Frankston Hospital with serious injuries.
Police are on the hunt for three men who are believed to be aged between 17 and 21 from the Carrum Downs area.’
Sounds to me like there was no crowd control at this event.
Here’s another story that put three police members in hospital. It’s just one of dozens of stories I’m collating in a national database.
I’ll bet you London to a brick these guests were all drunk because the parents didn’t want to control the alcohol. Why? Because they wanted to be ‘cool’ with the kids.
And while they were being cool, their guests were getting the crap beaten out of them. Then, when the party got too wild, they called emergency services to clean up their mess.
When are parents going to listen?!
Again and again we see our stretched emergency services called to situations that could’ve been prevented. I can see the neighbours cringing inside their properties thinking, ‘Not another teenage party!’
Almost all these stories come down to planning and duty of care. If parents provide these, parties will be pleasant for guests and safe for the community and emergency services. And the only way to make sure of this is to bring in safe party permits.
Parents who plan a party for their kids are responsible for all guests. This means they must control the alcohol. They must also diligently and continually observe all guests to ensure they’re partying safely. They must also provide a safe party environment that keeps unwanted guests out.
Not doing this could mean civil action by another parent. I know of two cases in Melbourne where parents are suing another parent for lack of duty of care. Their kids both ended up with permanent brain damage.
In the last five months, I’ve organised 60 teen parties with parents all over Melbourne. This includes:
- Risk and pre-party safety assessment of venues (including homes).
- Risk assessment and safety plan for alcohol.
- Post-party transport arrangements.
Not one of these parties had an alcohol-fuelled problem.
About a third had gatecrashers who tried to get in, but were thwarted by my security team and diligent parents who cared about keeping the kids safe.
There is a solution to all this mindless violence.
If only parents would GROW UP!
Naomi Oakley, Managing Director, U-NOME Security Communication Specialists.
Nightmare Neighbour (or Landlord Beware!)
August 29, 2010 at 5:24 am | Posted in Security | Leave a commentTags: crowd control, event, kid, legislation, Naomi Oakley, nightmare, parent, party, Party Plan Checklist, police, prevention, proposal, safe parties, security, teen, teenage, tragedy, U-NOME Security, venue
Even the best-laid party plans can be upset by uncaring others.
Last night my team and I were scheduled to look after a party in a wealthy suburb.
The event had been extremely well planned and my client had wisely followed all my prior advice.
Then, around midday, I heard a disturbing rumour.
It seemed a 17-year-old local boy had planned a party in the rental property he shared with his mother.
On investigation, I found he’d promoted the party on Facebook – receiving more than 200 acceptances.
No security. No alcohol restriction. And a mother oblivious to what was about to happen.
Worse, this boy’s party was just down the road from my client’s event – which was due to start in eight hours!
Suddenly, my client’s well-planned party was threatened by an external problem that was beyond my control.
I knew that if I didn’t increase my crew to six and retain them for longer at my client’s venue, gatecrashers from the Facebook party could threaten it if dispersed by police or other factors.
My poor client had the twin hassles of increased costs plus a sense of unease about the actions of their careless, selfish neighbour.
Not surprisingly, police had to shut the Facebook party down. This sent kids spilling out of the house.
Sure enough, a wave of disgruntled teens soon crashed against our defences.
I heard that the rental house had been trashed, as the boy and his mother were moving out!
Fortunately, due to our increased security measures (and my client’s trust in my assessment and recommendation) we stopped and dispersed this surly mob.
Who they went on to hassle next is anyone’s guess. Though I do know police had to waste time patrolling a human mess that should never have happened.
Once again, the party permit system I’ve long been advocating would deter or punish thoughtless neighbours (and save emergency services the time and expense of cleaning up after them).
Last night’s debacle also has me wondering if landlords think about social-media-fuelled parties when renting their properties.
Perhaps they may like to read my proposal and add some of my recommendations to their next lease.
Councils also need to take note. We must get tough and prevent this careless behaviour – especially with summer coming.
With mobs of kids roaming from pillar to post – often stopping traffic – someone’s going to get hurt or killed.
Civil litigation will raise its head and guest parents will sue party parents for not looking after their children.
The good news about last night was that, safe inside my client’s venue, the kids had a ball and the event was a big success.
Phew! Time to get ready for next weekend!
Naomi Oakley, Managing Director, U-NOME Security Communication Specialists.
Naomi Oakley
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