Nightclubs on Orchid Avenue have been put on notice by Chill-Out Zone staff in effort to make Surfers safe

Nightclub bosses have agreed to terms laid out by chill-out zone staff after patron collapse last month. Read what they’ll do to make Surfers safer.

Surfers Paradise nightclubs have been put on notice about safety protocols in the wake of a patron’s frightening dancefloor collapse last month.

A spokeswoman for the ‘chill-out zone’ team addressed the Surfers Paradise Safe Night Precinct’s (SNP) Annual General Meeting last week, saying it was critical nightclubs turn on the lights and turn down music when they’re helping revive stricken club-goers.

Her warning comes after an incident in late June, in which a young man collapsed on the popular Cocktails nightclub dancefloor.

He had stopped breathing and friends told police he’d consumed cocaine.

The man, 27, was in a coma but made a full recovery.

A man suffered a cardiac arrest at a Gold Coast nightclub early on Sunday morning. Picture: Supplied

Staff from the chill-out zone – a government funded immediate care service that operates from a mobile support van on Orchid Ave – were the first responders to the incident.

“Something [the incident] raised for us is when we’re going into venues, if the lights are down and the music is on, we can’t actually hear each other,” she told the SNP Annual General Meeting last Wednesday.

“We can’t hear AED prompts and if we have to use our [defibrillator], we can’t hear it counting down for us.

“If we’re coming in and it’s pretty dicey, really appreciate if you guys could put the lights up and the music down.

“If we can move that person out of the venue we absolutely will. We know you have a business to run but we have had a few that have been really challenging environments for our staff.”

2/12/10 BSM - The Hilton Hotel in Surfers Paradise are said to be annoyed about the Chill Out Zone set up in front of the hotel. The Chill Out Zone is to help people who have partied too hard. Pic by Luke Marsden.

Cocktails owner Lino Girardi said all venues support the chill-out zone, which was an initiative started by the Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association (SPLVA).

“The immediate response from the chill-out zone was probably what saved him … it’s a great initiative, and it’s supported by everyone in service.

“This was a very rare occurrence … this is the first time that something like that’s happened in five years or so, whatever the chill-out zone says we adhere to,” he said.

The chill-out zone spokeswoman also requested that staff call medical professionals immediately if someone in their venue collapses.

“If you have someone in your venue who’s unresponsive or unconscious, you’re not able to get any kind of response from them, please call an ambulance – even if you call us.

“We have seen quite a few of those this year and that’s things like king hits, drug overdoses, we have really seen a bit of a spike,” she said.