Young Fire Crews Learning The Drills

19 February, 2010 - 10:31 — admin
 
The course has been heralded as a huge success and has the full support of other agencies in the Highlands and Islands, including Education Services; Police and Social Work Services.  
Angus Brendan MacNeil MP, Eleanor MacKinnon, Simon O’Connor, Duncan Douglas, Christine MacLean, Group Manager Ian Smith, Watch Manager Willie Douglas. Craig Ferguson, Ishabel MacIntyre, Aileen Elder.

 
Young people from Castlebay Secondary School have been finding out just what it’s like to be a member of the Fire Service. At a presentation ceremony held at Castlebay Fire Station on Wednesday, parents, carers, Fire Service members and teaching staff heard how they have learned just how members of the Fire Service operate and trained in teamwork skills including: hose drills; ladder drills; breathing apparatus and carrying out home fire safety checks.
 
They have also benefited from non-fire related training including: Incident management at a road traffic collision. They also learned basic first aid skills, delivered by The Scottish Ambulance Service.
 
Members of the Fire Crew in Castlebay are all delighted to have been involved in the course which is funded by The Big Lottery Fund. Watch Manager Willie Douglas was keen to sing the praises of the youth team. He spoke on behalf of the Instructors, saying “we have been delighted to participate with the kids, as we have seen them grow in confidence over the months. This has given our staff new found skills in working with young people and has extended our own personal development at the same time. We will miss them all, but hope to keep in touch through the close contact with the school”.
A number of teaching staff have been accompanying the team to the Fire Station each week. Suzanne Foreman, Depute Head from the school pointed out that she was amazed at how the young people had taken to the course and extended their new found skills and hoped that the school would be able to continue with the project in the future.
 
Angus Brendan MacNeil MP, who presented the certificates to the young people, said “This work has allowed the Fire Crew to engage with young people in the community, particularly those who would benefit from the positive influence of the fire staff throughout the Highlands and Islands. By attending the course, it is hoped that the young people will gain new life skills such as team working and leadership as well as displaying positive behaviour. All too often these days, we hear about the negative side of what young people get up to, this type of course gives us the opportunity to promote the positive things that most of our young people in the islands are involved in”.