Until recently, emergency response on the left side of the Nistru river has been difficult as resources have been severely limited. The lack of resources and capacity also means the fire fighters’ personal safety was at risk every time they were called out. However, since May 2017, through donations of three fully-equipped fire appliances, personal protective equipment (PPE) and breathing apparatus (BA), there has been a change.

These four fire fighters from the Fire Safety Unit of Tiraspol are just a few of the happy recipients of this new equipment. They are also about to take part in a week-long training programme, run by Operation Florian volunteers from the UK, on how to use their new kit.

As they, and the UK fire fighters, unload the van of equipment, there was a buzz of excitement in the air. This latest donation of breathing apparatus means that there is now enough to equip the entire fire service on the left side of the Nistru River.

Kostya (far left in above photgraph) has been a fire fighter for 9 years and has not previously had any professional PPE or BA.

“The road traffic equipment is very useful to us. We have never had this before, and the training provided meant we were able to learn how to use the equipment too.”

Along with the donations of PPE and BA, the fire fighters in Tiraspol also received a full complement of road crash rescue equipment and training in how to use it. Again, this is the first time that fire fighters on the left bank of the Nistru river have had access to such equipment, which will significantly increase their capacity to provide an effective post-crash response and save many people from dying at the side of the road.

Kostya in particular has found the road traffic collision (RTC) training very useful.

“This road traffic collision equipment will allow us to save more lives where we previously wouldn’t have been able to”

And indeed, since the first set of donations arrived in May 2017, the Tiraspol Fire Safety Unit has responded to 80 incidents, including 6 vehicle-related incidents in which the road crash rescue equipment was utilised.