10/10/06
First Garland Safety Fest Held Saturday -
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On Saturday, the Garland Fire Department presented it's first Safety Fest at the Garland ISD Special Events Center. Assisting with the event were Garland Neighborhood Police Officers, SEC staff members, Careflight, Richardson Fire Department clowns manning the Fire Safety House, and other Garland city departments. Some of the activities included Fire Safety/EMS Presentations, Bicycle Safety, Children's Personal Safety, Careflight, Fire Safety House, Clowns, Mock Vehicle Wreck, Vehicle Airbag Demo, and Games and Bounce House for kids. Besides being able to sit and tour the various fire engines, ambulances, the Fire Command Center vehicle, and Police cars, getting to watch the drama of the mock wreck was great. Students appropriately adorned in fake blood were in a two-car crash with one vehicle upside down. An ambulance "arrived" at the scene, coming from behind the SEC and was soon followed by a fire engine, just like real life. EMS personnel quickly guaged which crash victims needed immediate care and which could safely wait. A Police unit followed to investigate the accident and control traffic. You could see them hauling a case of beer from one of the vehicles and having the driver demonstrate his sobriety, or rather lack thereof. Extracting the victims from the overturned car was more challenging. To get the second person out of the vehicle meant bracing his neck to protect him and we saw the Jaws-of-Life carried to the scene. Most of the victims were moved to the awaiting ambulance. Careflight landed at the end of the demonstration to evacuate the more severely injured "victim." Afterwards, there was a demonstration of driver and passenger airbags deploying. The presenter explained that the bags are filled with pellets that release nitrogen gas (an inert gas that is common in our atmosphere) in about 1/25th of a second when a small charge is applied. He used a nine-volt radio battery to supply the charge. At one point, I lost track of my wife and son and found them watching a repelling demonstration by Fire personnel as they worked their way down the side of the SEC. This was a great event and I hope more and more people will take time to attend in the future. It's entertaining and informative. |
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