A FIRE AID team including representatives from members, Operation Florian and instructors from Devon and Somerset and Scottish Fire and Rescue Services led by our member John Monaghan recently returned from Nepal, where over a 2 week period the team provided a basic search and rescue foundation course to 34 officer from the Nepalese Army. The course took place at the newly established Disaster Management Training School at Gokarna, Kathmandu and covered areas such as timber shoring, propping, cribbing, breaching, load moving and confined space awareness. The delegates were also shown the use of Delsar listening and camera work, as well as medical skills such as triage and casualty care. 

In addition to this training the team involved themselves in the local community by providing a donation of food and other items to the Mother Sister Orphanage Nepal at Nawalpur, Sindupulchowk. This area was devastated during the 2015 earthquakes, and as a result the orphanage was set up to provide for 25 children that lost their families during the earthquakes.

A follow-up visit to provide further support to the Disaster Management Training School is scheduled for late 2019.  In January 2019 the Devon & Somerset FRS team will return to Nepal to provide training on donated firefighting and rescue equipment to the municipalities of Salleri and Mechi Nagar, provide further support to the orphanage and provide fire safety and risk assessment training to British Gurkha Welfare teams across Nepal.