PUBLIC EXPO: A FIRE DEPARTMENT PROMOTIONAL TOOL
BY ED BERGER
Some 20,000 attendees at the Second Annual Fire-Rescue Expo sponsored by the Mobile (AL) Fire Rescue Department came away with an increased awareness of fire safety and the services the department provides.
Gary Smith and Cubby Sellers of our Public Education department conceived the idea for a springtime expo dedicated to fire-rescue. It grew out of our participation for many years at the Greater Gulf State Fair, where we sponsored an information booth. The state fair takes place each October in Mobile.
Our first expo, held in 1996, was quickly put together after a discussion with the state fair managers. Some 10,000 attended.
EXPO ATTRACTIONS
The expo targets the public, not other firefighters. Our objectives are to educate the citizens in fire and health safety and to showcase the multitude of skills our department members provide to the community.
On entering the expo, visitors walked through an impressive display of fire apparatus, including that of area volunteer and career departments, who were invited to participate.
A main event was presented each hour. Presentations included a vehicle extrication involving air bags, a high-angle rescue demonstration using two aerial ladders, a fire attack on a burning structure, and–one of the most popular events of the day–an aircraft fire scenario in which a burning mobile home was used to simulate aircraft fuselage. One of our airport fire rescue units extinguished the fire with foam. Most attendees never observed such equipment in action. The demonstrations concluded with a helicopter evacuation of a “patient.”
Between the main events, continuous activities and attractions held attendees` attention. They included fire extinguisher demos, antique fire truck rides, a 911 simulator, residential sprinkler demonstrations, a children`s smokehouse, and a dalmatian parade (we had hoped to gather 101 but settled for 84).
Every hour, drama students from the local school participated in the reenactment of a scene set in a simulated family room and narrated by our medical control physician. The father, played by a firefighter, suddenly develops severe chest pains and goes into cardiac arrest. The audience can see two of our fire dispatchers, set up with their CAD monitors on a side stage, and hear them transmitting medical instructions over the phone and dispatching the first-due engine and the ALS (advanced life support) transport. Engine company personnel and firemedics enter from backstage with their equipment and assume care of the patient. Several hundred people watched attentively at each reenactment.
Children were able to “earn” a wall poster of our fire station by acquiring five cards–one at each learning station they visited. The stations covered lessons such as “Stop, Drop, and Roll”; EDITH; and “Preventing Scaldings.” We had a local computer printing company make up about 15,000 posters.
Other agencies with public safety concerns operated information booths and exhibits. The Mobile County Sheriff`s Department presented a seatbelt demonstration, the County Emergency Management Agency exhibited its mobile communications center, and the Alabama Power Company featured a display on electricity and safety.
Provisions were made to entertain as well as educate children. Throughout the day, clowns mingled among the crowds. Children could have their faces painted, take rides on miniature trains, and visit a petting zoo.
FUNDING
Various local businesses, including a major hospital, helped fund the event. All department personnel participating in the scenarios and working behind the scenes volunteered their personal time. Therefore, on-line service was not directly affected. Reserve apparatus replaced front-line apparatus used to stage the events.
The expo, the yearly culmination of our ongoing public relations and public education program, is a proactive effort in awareness training for our community. Citizens can develop behavior that will lead to a more healthful and safer life while learning about the fire-rescue skills and equipment their tax dollars provide.
Attendees and sponsors have given the event favorable reviews. Not only has the public gained a better understanding and appreciation of the wide variety of emergency services we provide to the community, but, more importantly, the information learned at the expo could one day save a life. n
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Some 20,000 attended the Mobile (AL) Fire Rescue Department Second Annual Fire-Rescue Expo, which featured many attractions and demonstrations, including the following, that promoted health and safety and the fire department: (Top left) Extrication scenario. (Top right) High-angle rescue demonstration. (Middle left) ARFF in action. (Bottom left) EMS scenario depicting a cardiac-arrest incident response. (Bottom right) Crowd assembles for the next major demonstration scenario. (Photos by Steve Huffman.)
ED BERGER is a 32-year veteran of the Mobile (AL) Fire-Rescue Department, where he has served as chief since 1989. He is a graduate of the Open Learning Fire Service Program at Memphis State University and has completed courses at the National Fire Academy. He is past president of the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs and the Southeastern Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
