Youngsters learn valuable life and safety skills at fire station

Intervention and incident reduction officer, Garry Alexander, organised the event to give youngsters the chance to learn more about road safety, water safety and a range of practical skills, which included elements of Heartstart – a national British Heart Foundation education initiative.

The young people involved were aged between 13 and 17 years old and came together on the day to undertake a range of activities, which included having a closer look at casualty rescue techniques, ladder climbing and having a look around a fire engine and all the equipment on-board.

Water safety co-ordinator Andrea Janes also held an interactive water safety presentation, which covered a range of subjects including cold water shock and the far-reaching impacts of a drowning fatality.

Practical activities included throw lines where the children were encouraged to hit a target. The lucky winner received a family swim pass to the pool at Freedom Leisure.

The annual event is organised in conjunction with East Sussex County Council and follows a similar theme to the LIFE course, where staff focus on building young people’s confidence, enabling team work, improving communication and, of course, having fun.

Garry Alexander said: “Many thanks to everyone involved on the day including Andrea Janes and Green Watch Bexhill for their invaluable time and energy in supporting the fire service’s work in our local community.

“The fire and rescue service promotes well-being within our local communities and we are very privileged to be working with these young, looked after children who were very enthusiastic and had an opportunity to learn a range of skills while working alongside our staff.”

Andrea Janes added: “This is a further example of what the fire service does best. Staff gave their time and energy tirelessly to support these young people and the event was extremely successful.

“The level of participant engagement was clear and the children had a great time, especially with the throw lines – they particularly enjoyed those.”

Visit http://www.esfrs.org for more information on fire and water safety.

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