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07/07/07 - a date to remember!At 07:00hrs this morning I was under orders to mobilise a team from the International Rescue Corps to the Biggest Earthquake to ever hit West Yorkshire, well actually that's a bit of a fib, this was planned from earlier on in the year and was actually a simulated one to show families from the Queensbury area of Bradford, West Yorkshire exactly what could and would happen to them if a devastatingly large one was ever to hit our soil. The day was organised by Mrs Amanda Leggett - Parental Involvement Worker and her staff at the Queensbury School and with the help of other organisations including us she was able to stage a series of family learning opportunities to engage families in the process of family learning around the scenario of an earthquake. The families were met with a scene of utter devastation as they came through the school gates - some say that's because of it being a skool, others may have even been shocked by seeing a load of 'blue overalled' people standing around an unlit 'simulated' campfire and thought to themselves, this must be what chaos is all about!
All Tucked In! The families were told to bring with them something to make a shelter out of and to use their imaginations - boy did some of them! There were shelters made out of clothes horses, climbing frames, a rubber dinghy!, others that resembled greenhouses (even thought at one point of going and getting some tomatoes to grow in one of them!), a child's playhouse and a few that wouldn't even stand up to the rain we had that day made out of cardboard boxes - but hey this was a learning opportunity for small children and their families not a survival course for the SAS! On hand to assist the school, along side ourselves of course, were some members from the Territorial Army, The British Red Cross, The Bradford Emergency Planning Department, NSARDA, West Yorkshire Fire service (with a chip pan fire display unit - and they asked us why we would have a boat at such a scenario!) the National Blood Service and the British Geological Society. But think that we stole the show with our campsite setup, ambulance, boat for the kids to clamber all over and Lou's tent open to see exactly what she's 'not' packing when she goes away!!! During the day, a helicopter was asked to come in and drop off supplies like they would do in a real event, which was marshalled in by Ray to an applause by a lot of excited people - Yorkshire folk! Later on in the day Amanda Leggett was 'volunteered' by the team to be strapped into our new all singing, all dancing (though limited dancing) stretcher, taken to the helicopter and sent off as a simulated casualty. She did this and loved it! The day didn't make us a lot of money for the Corps, but none the less it made us a few contacts from other agencies and a great time was had by all of us - especially Ian who seemed too good at getting money from the kids! I would like to say a big thank you to the school for inviting us along to partake in the event and to the team that turned up from all over, to: Willie McMartin, Ray Gray, Gordon McTavish, Dave & Jocelyn Egan (and family), Dave Maddock, Simon Drayton, Sally Smith, Lou Higgins and Ian McPhail. Deano Mills |
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