Services put on a show to prove we’re in safe hands
Wrapping up an exciting week of activities, the emergency services display day held at Sandbraes last Saturday ensured that the Whiting Bay fun week ended with a flourish.
The latest addition to the summer calendar saw the emergency services of fire, ambulance, Coastguard, mountain rescue and the lifeboat demonstrating their tools and equipment in an impressive display that showcased their abilities.
Ardrossan station commander and Arran supervisory manager of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Greig Fleming, along with his team, demonstrated the equipment used for road traffic accidents including cutters and spreaders for freeing occupants from vehicles, lifting mats that could raise vehicles for trapped casualties and the Lamlash fire engine which children could climb into and explore. They also held an impressive chip pan fire demonstration which illustrated to the large crowd how quickly these things can get out of control and also how to deal with it.
Advice
Offering advice too was husband and wife team Helen and David Graham of the Scottish Ambulance Service. They showed a line of waiting children what the inside of an ambulance looked like and also allowed them to lie on the stretchers while the medics attended to their ‘injuries’. Neck braces were placed on them and they had slings put on their arms. Some lucky ones were also allowed to have a short blast of the siren while others were allowed to switch on the flashing blue lights. Not just for children, adults were shown how to perform CPR and other emergency procedures which ambulance staff and first responders demonstrated on CPR dummies in a triage tent.
RNLI mascot Stormy Stan and Arran lifeboat crew member David Ingham posed for photos with chil-
dren and answered any question that the visitors had. A sizeable display of equipment used in sea rescues was available for people to see and many children clambered into an emergency raft, complete with RNLI helmets and life vests.
Popular
Proving almost as popular were the Arran Mountain Rescue Team’s Argocat rides, which were available to the children. The team set up a climbing wall which illustrated some of the difficulties with mountaineering rescues which take place on Arran’s hills. Children were outfitted with safety harnesses and climbed up the wall and gained a bird’s eye view of their parents before abseiling down again.
Demonstrating equipment and providing sage advice too were Paul Archer and Fiona Laing of the Coastguard who hosted a demonstration of a hoist and the large amount of equipment which is regularly used in cliff, coast and water rescues. The bright red dry-suits and Coastguard helicopter landing lights attracted a large amount of interest from the children.
Organiser of the event Gary Lewis, of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: ‘We thought that this would be an interesting event for the public and their families to come and meet the silent heroes and volunteers who so generously give their time and energy to help others. It is useful for children to become familiar with these people and the equipment they use so that they are not afraid of them but also to enthuse the next generation of volunteers and retained crew.
‘The entire event also allowed adults to familiarise themselves with what is required to be a member of any one of these services and hopefully it will encourage some recruitment which is always required on the island. We would like to thank everyone for their time and for the fantastic amount of local support and appreciation that we have received.’