15 Mar 2005
Arriva and fire service work together in safety exercise designed to improve skills and understanding
Arriva the Shires and Essex and Bedfordshire and Luton Fire andRescue Service have worked together on a series of accidentscenarios enacted at the bus company's Luton depot and designed togive a realistic yet safe training environment for fire fighters todeal with an accident involving a large vehicle.
A simulated accident involving a car and a bus allowedfirefighters the opportunity to practice their rescue techniques onthis type of incident and also to practice casualty care techniquesusing specialist training mannequins.
Heath Williams, managing director for Arriva the Shires andEssex, explained why the bus company wanted to get involved:
We are always looking at ways to further improve safetyand were delighted to be able to support the fire brigade'straining in this way.
By filming their response to the incident, we can thenuse it in our training programmes for drivers and can give them arealistic example of how to work with emergency services on thevery rare occasions that accidents as serious as the one in thescenario occur.
Kevin Moores, of Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service,added:
Fortunately, serious incidents involving large vehiclessuch as buses happen very rarely so it is really useful that we areable to set up these practice scenarios. Arriva's support allows usto train fire service personnel, in a safe but realisticenvironment.
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