Chessington, Saturday, 18 October 2025.
Merlin Entertainments has advertised a First Aid Team Leader role at Chessington, signalling a shift: parks are professionalising on-site medical leadership and embedding it into duty management. The position combines clinical oversight with operational control — rota planning, training, incident response, budgeting and acting as Duty Manager — and requires Level 3 FAW and leadership experience. For retail and operations planners this hire matters because it reallocates escalation pathways, reduces pressure on Security teams, and creates a single accountable owner for incident outcomes and reporting. Expect implications for staffing models, capacity planning and supplier contracts (ambulance/first‑response), plus opportunities to standardise safeguarding and compliance across shifts. Benchmarks to watch: scope of clinical responsibilities, cross-department collaboration, and whether the role carries rota-based Duty Manager authority. Retail leaders should consider similar integrated first‑aid leadership roles to improve resilience, manage costs, and shorten incident resolution times — during peak seasonal trading and large-scale events.