OF to boost local emergency services

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THE British-based humanitarian charity Operation Florian (OF) is conducting a two-week training session for the country’s ambulance and fire services providers in a bid to enhance and improve local authority services.

THE British-based humanitarian charity Operation Florian (OF) is conducting a two-week training session for the country’s ambulance and fire services providers in a bid to enhance and improve local authority services.

LINDA CHINOBVA OWN CORRESPONDENT

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

The group is currently conducting a training session at Bulawayo’s Famona Fire and Ambulance Services station. The training is being attended by fire and ambulance services personnel from local authorities around the country.

OF project manager Tony Burscough said 22 trainers were in Zimbabwe to enhance the skills and knowledge of the emergency service providers in the country so as to meet international standards.

“We came to Zimbabwe in a group of 22 in a bid to revise and upgrade the ambulance and fire services. Our main aim is to improve the fire-fighting and rescue infrastructure and provide a progressive move towards normality and stability of their emergency services,” said Burscough.

“There are 15 courses that will be taught during the two weeks and the courses cover both the safety of the public and the service providers themselves and overally enable them to meet the needs and demands placed on them by the communities they serve,” he said.

He said the courses included introduction to managing incidents command course; community fire safety; ambulance staff training; train the trainer; turn table ladder refresher; fire-fighter practical training; advanced fire investigation; technical fire safety; breathing apparatus and road traffic collision.

Burscough said emergency service providers from Victoria Falls, Kadoma, Kwekwe, Gweru and Zvishavane would be trained specifically on breathing apparatus and road traffic collision while the rest would be subjected to all 15 courses.

He said among the trainers were eight undergraduate degree students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCL) who are using their experiences to assist OF with the training session.

Burscough said various British-based fire and rescue services also donated equipment to Zimbabwe’s emergency service providers to improve their service delivery.

He said the equipment donated included hydraulic rescue equipment for road traffic accidents, compressors, fire fighters tunics, pumps, boots, breathing apparatus and ambulance equipment.

Bulawayo chief fire officer Richard Peterson said the training session would help the emergency service providers in the country improve and develop their skills.

“We are happy that we have other countries coming in to help develop the emergency services providers of the country as it is our mandate to sufficiently meet the needs of the communities,” Peterson said.

He urged the trainees to disseminate the knowledge they would have acquired so as to have a safe country.

The training session is being held in collaboration with OF, Aberdeen City Council, Bulawayo City Council, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, UCL, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Cleveland Fire Brigade, East Sussex Fire and Rescue service, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service.