Alerter - the firefighters blog

New Season of Learn and Live Gets Underway

It's been a while since I last did a Learn and Live presentation - back in May I think.

So it was with some trepidation (regular readers will know that I like to use a few long words in my posts, just to keep them on their toes. If I've lost you already, just click on the word for a detailed explanation...) that I headed off last night to Halesworth with Rachael 'Princess' O'Connell to make two presentations.

We arrived at Halesworth Fire Station with plenty of time to spare before the first 'gig'. I moved the pump out of the appliance bay and we started to transform the empty space into a makeshift lecture theatre / cinema.

It seemed that most of the Halesworth crew then turned up to see the presentation and to help with crowd control. Unfortunately, the crowd control part of the job description wasn't required. Even sending an old fashioned press gang into Halesworth didn't get us any takers!
So, the first presentation was kept in house with the Halesworth crew being our audience. Only one of them had seen the presentation so it was a good dress rehearsal for us.

The press gang went out again and this time managed to 'persuade' eight young people to come along to the station.

I'd asked Stuart Hostler, the Sub Officer at Halesworth, to do a short welcome including where the loos are, that refreshments were available and that this was an operational fire station and what to expect if they got a shout. Over then to Rachael for our introduction section and then me for the main part. I'd hardly got into my flow when the turnout printer (right next to me) sprang into life followed quickly by about ten alerters all going off! A short interlude followed while the crew got their fire kit on and legged it out to the pump.

By the time we got to the section of road safety videos the pump was back. The crew quietly filed in and watched from the back. We wrapped up shortly after that with positive comments coming from our audience.

We're back there again tonight. Hopefully there'll be a few more takers this time.

Calling all Driving Schools!

The old grey matter isn't what it used to be... That's probably why it's taken me awhile to come up with this idea.

As the number of firefighters involved with Learn and Live grows, we need to increase our potential audience. Lowestoft College has come on board wholeheartedly and we're seeing more sessions booked almost on a daily basis. The local high schools are now being contacted and visited with a view to getting Learn and Live and To Young To Die into their already busy schedules.

Now here's the cunning plan... We would like to hear from any driving instructors in the Lowestoft and Waveney area (or anywhere in Suffolk) who may be interested in getting their pupils into a Learn and Live presentation. The sessions are, of course, free of charge and we would look to host them at the Fire Station on Normanston Drive in Lowestoft - however we can travel if required...

This presentation is so relevant to your pupils as they embark on their driving experience. We are more than happy for you to sit in on one of our presentations at Lowestoft College. Just get in touch using the e-mail address below.

If you are a driving instructor or you are currently learning to drive and think attending the Learn and Live presentation would be beneficial - just drop me an e-mail to blog [at] alerter [dot] co [dot] uk (it may not be obvious but substitute the [at] for a '@' and the [dot] for, well, you get the idea... Just trying to stop all those e-mails offering certain tablets and extension potions!).

We welcome all enquiries and look forward to hearing from you...

The word is getting around...

Well, Al and I have just completed two more Learn and Live presentations at Lowestoft College - one to catering students and the other to the Uniformed Services course.

And it seems that each time we get back from the College an e-mail has arrived to book in more sessions. So, it's great to see some of the other guys coming along to see the presentations with a view to them coming onboard - Ray Long, Conrad Peck and Steve Mullen have been to this weeks sessions.

Bookings are now coming in from various high schools in Waveney, so the extra bodies will help to spread the load. And to be honest, you don't want to do too many of these Learn and Live presentations in a short space of time. The reason is you are relating your own experiences so, in some respects, it's just like attending an RTC (Road Traffic Collision).

I notice that Norfolk had some great coverage in the Eastern Daily Press for the launch of their equivalent to Learn and Live. [Sentence deleted...]. Time for us to sing our own praises - no one else will do it. Let's get the local press and radio involved, show the people of Waveney how proactive the Fire Service is in trying to reduce the level of fatalities and serious injuries on Suffolk's roads...

Off the soap box and time for tea before heading back to the station for drill night.

Good firefighter, bad firefighter

Some time ago I expressed interest in becoming involved with the Learn and Live campaign. Learn and Live is a hard-hitting road safety campaign aimed at 17-24 year olds and tends to be delivered in colleges and high schools across Suffolk.

Before Christmas I'd seen the display boards set up at the station and had also had the chance to watch the presentation. I made enquiries as to whether retained firefighters could deliver the sessions and was told we most certainly could.

Having put this rash offer to the back of my mind it did come as a shock when Simon Reeves put me on standby for three presentations at Lowestoft College.

So for the last week I've been running through the presentation, knowing that it is a no holds barred 40 minutes of graphic images and startling statistics. And it doesn't matter how many times I see those road safety adverts, I still get a cold chill when they are run back to back.

My plans were thrown into disarray when Rachel asked me whether I was going to be the good firefighter or the bad firefighter. Once the scenario had been explained I opted for the good firefighter for the first of the two presentations.

Al Soards and I arrived at Lowestoft College in plenty of time and set up all our gear in the Students Common Room. The first group filed in quietly and sat down rather sheepishly, not knowing what to expect.

And then it hits them, right between the eyes. This presentation is full-on and you can see the group gradually sinking further in to their chairs and covering their faces to hide from the imagery they are witnessing on-screen.

At the end I ask if there are any questions. Not a sausage! They fill in their questionnaires and then shuffle slowly and quietly back out of the room.

We then had a bit of a gap before the next group were due. This time Al and I reversed our roles and I became 'bad firefighter'. So I did the warning to the group about the graphic nature of the presentation, making no apologies for its content. I think the message was received and understood.

About half-way through Al's presentation I noticed a guy on the front row, head bowed and eyes shut. His mates must know the score because a gentle prod was required from one of the staff to get him to full consciousness again. He looked over at me and I fixed him with my best Paddington Bear stare (now that's scary!). A few minutes later and he's losing it again. A cunning plan Baldrick! When Al is doing the seatbelt piece I cut in, step in front of the audience and give them a wakeup story. I recount an incident in which one of the passengers wasn't wearing a seatbelt, describing his injuries and what I had to do to remove him from the car. It worked. That guy didn't nod off again!

Having seen the reaction when a true story is being recounted certainly makes these presentations hit the mark. Stories are better than lectures... None so than when Al recounted the story of how he lost four friends in an RTC and his best friend was seriously injured. He should have been in that car but because he was late he didn't make the journey. It's little wonder that Al is 100% behind this Learn and Live campaign.

We must have done something right. Since the first two presentations of Learn and Live the College have signed us up for 7 more sessions! We're also hoping to get into the local high schools to spread the word further.
So if anyone reading this knows of a group of 17-24 year olds that would benefit from the Learn and Live presentation, just drop a line to Al at alan.soards@fire.suffolkcc.gov.uk.