Just to report that only Paul Whitehead and I were able to attend the Exercise yesterday, but SFRS was very pleased to have us as volunteers.
It was good weather, which was just as well, as there was quite a bit of standing around outside, as is normal with these exercises.
We were briefed on what role we were playing (dementia, Parkinsons, limited mobility, wheelchair-bound, etc). Eventually were put into our individual rooms in the care home and the whole building filled with artificial smoke. Our rooms were not too bad, as they had fire doors which worked to a degree.
After some considerable time we were located and brought out to safety by firemen wearing the full set of breathing apparatus.
That’s when we saw the array of seven fire appliances etc that had turned up – photos below. I found it quite interesting looking at all the kit they had.
Anyway, a few points to note for the next times:
– Park on the road, not in the care home car park, as you will get blocked in by the fire appliances.
– Bring some refreshments with you – nothing was provided
– Bring something to read when you are put into your room
– It was colder inside the building than outside in the sun – so make sure you have something warm with you.
– I was quite happy to sit on the floor or perch on the window sill in my room, but if you want to bring a camping chair do so. However, it won’t be evacuated with you so you will need to wait until the end of the exercise and then ask a fireman to go back in and retrieve it for you. This will be after they have cleared the building of the artificial smoke.
Overall, I enjoyed the day, and it was another step in building a good relationship with SFRS. Several of the firemen (not only from the Chertsey team) remembered that we worked with them in the floods last year, so the word is spreading!
[attachment=1:2ttvt24h]2015 02 27 (1b).jpg[/attachment:2ttvt24h]
[attachment=0:2ttvt24h]2015 02 27 (7b).jpg[/attachment:2ttvt24h]
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