Emergency services showcase their skills to locals at family open day
ITS AIM was to be educational and entertaining '“ and the 10th anniversary open day held by the Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service proved to be a big hit.
People gathered at the independent lifeboat service’s base in Stokes Bay, Gosport, to watch a large group of emergency services showcase their skills.
Lifeboat crews, police, paramedics, a HM Coastguard team, and more, were on hand to talk about their day-to-day lives serving people across the area.
Keith Thomas, chairman of Gafirs, said: ‘Gafirs has been in service for 48 years now and the open day gives us a chance to tell locals not just what we do, but what other emergency services do as well.
‘We tell them how we work together as teams, like we work with the coastguard, in response to incidents.
‘It’s great for us to be able to get a sea safety message out to young people too, and explain to them the dangers of the water and how they can look after themselves.’
Paramedic and Gafirs crew member Jake Robinson spent the day teaching primary school children how to call the emergency services, while at the same time informing parents they can ask for the coastguard by dialling 999.
For mum Wendy White, from Alverstoke, her visit to the open day with young son George was worth it.
She said: ‘George has a fear of police because he associates officers with bad situations, so I brought him to the event so he can view the police force in a more positive light.
‘He learnt how to do CPR and save someone’s life with a paramedic too, so that was a really amazing opportunity.’