In the last twelve months Fire Control staff have carried out presentations to approximately 2000 people, internal and external to the organisation. The bulk of our audience is school children of key stage 1, 2 and 3 across the ten unitary authorities. Our presentations cover topics such as careers, hoax calls and how to make a 999 call in an emergency. We also contribute to the learning of students who are studying for the Duke of Edinburgh qualification and children on the ‘Dragon Programme’ (internal initiative).
In Rhondda Cynon Taff all nineteen secondary schools and the four special schools run the ‘World of Work’ programme, in conjunction with the Mid Glamorgan Education Business Partnership. As part of this programme, pupils visit the Fire Control Room and Control Staff visit these schools at several other phases throughout the academic year to aid them with interviewing techniques and industry and career days. This is where pupils interact with each other and Control staff to create posters, plays and poems which they present to the rest of their school.
During their visit to Control the pupils spend some time in the training room where, through interactive discussions and presentations they learn about the type of work carried out in Fire Control. They are also taught about the wide range of calls received from the public and suggest situations when a 999 call should be made.
We debate hoax calls, deliberately started fires and their potential repercussions and the pupils learn how to make an emergency call correctly.
The group will then spend some time in the Control Room itself, talking to the Watch on-duty about how incident details are logged into the mobilising system and other aspects of the job, such as the shift system.
The Control Room also receives visits from groups of children with Special Needs. Although the subject matter covered varies slightly from group to group, students respond particularly well to the Control environment, and enjoy finding their homes and school or college on our sophisticated mapping system.
The students also learn why it is dangerous to make hoax calls, play with matches and start fires deliberately, and enjoy practicing giving their home addresses to the Control Operator when they act out making an emergency call.