Fire fighters buoyant after British training

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THE country’s fire and ambulance services providers who underwent a two-week training session in Bulawayo say they are ready to serve the public following the new skills they acquired.

THE country’s fire and ambulance services providers who underwent a two-week training session in Bulawayo say they are ready to serve the public following the new skills they acquired. LINDA CHINOBVA OWN CORRESPONDENT

Twenty-two trainers from the British-based humanitarian charity organisation Operation Florian (OF) conducted the training course for the country’s emergency service providers to enhance their capabilities.

OF is a non-political organisation that assists fire and rescue as well as ambulance services throughout the world in capacitating their emergency services.

Bulawayo’s chief fire officer Richard Peterson said the city would never be the same again as the emergency service provider would put to use the skills it acquired during the training session.

“We are ready to adequately serve and meet the demands of the public after having gone through a two-week workshop that has equipped us with more knowledge and skills that will enhance our service provision,” Peterson said.

“Bulawayo will never be the same again and I can assure the public that they will see a difference in the service provision by the emergency services provider.”

Peterson said the emergency service provider would intensify its campaigns based on the new knowledge.

“As we have been holding campaigns throughout the city, we will intensify the outreach programme through the information we have managed to get from our partners,” he said.

He added they appreciated the workshop and hoped to continue receiving the productive services from outsiders. The training session was also attended by fire and ambulance services personnel from local authorities around the country.

The trainees were subjected to 15 courses that covered both the safety of the public and the service providers themselves. The courses included introduction to managing incidents command course; community fire safety; ambulance staff training; train the trainer; turntable ladder refresher; firefighter practical training; advanced fire investigation; technical fire safety; breathing apparatus and road traffic collision. Among the trainers were eight undergraduate degree students from the University of Central Lancashire who were using their experiences to assist OF with the training session. Kwekwe chief fire officer Cleopas Maguma, who was part of the workshop, said he was confident that the skills they acquired would tremendously improve the emergency service providers. “With the skills that we acquired during the training session, I am convinced that the emergency service providers in the country will be more advanced and efficient. We will have better brigades as we have also received equipment to aid our services,” he said. Various British-based fire and rescue services also donated equipment to Zimbabwe’s emergency service providers to improve their service delivery. The equipment included hydraulic rescue equipment for road traffic accidents, compressors, firefighters tunics, pumps, boots, breathing apparatus and ambulance equipment.