At the UK Fire and Rescue Service International Development and Humanitarian Aid conference held at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Steve Jordan of Operation Florian and Ajay Singh Whaid of Safety Engineering Simulators Ltd (SES) unveiled the first transformer car sponsored by the Toyota Fund for Europe.

At the seventh annual United Kingdom Fire and Rescue Service International Development and Humanitarian Aid conference held at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Steve Jordan of Operation Florian and Ajay Singh Whaid of Safety Engineering Simulators Ltd (SES) unveiled the first transformer car sponsored by the Toyota Fund for Europe. The transformer car is intended to continue the joint partnership between Operation Florian and FIRE AID to support the capacity building projects in Moldova and Macedonia as an essential teaching resource for road traffic collision rescue techniques and for joint fire and ambulance personnel training at crash scenes.

The car demonstration

The transformer car is designed as a reusable vehicle for road traffic collision rescue training, demonstrating a variety of space creation techniques such as roof and door removal, dash lift, B pillar fold and removal, and glass removal. The uniqueness of the vehicle is that it can be reassembled for re-use and therefore has huge potential for many overseas development projects in countries where the securing of scrap cars for training is costly. The transformer car is a truly valuable resource, encouraging continuous training and contributing to the improvement of response capacities of emergency responders. In recognition of their innovation, SES has been shortlisted in the Training Provider of the Year category for the 2014 Fire and Emergency Awards.

FIRE AID team members with the transformer car

In addition to the car demonstration, conference guests also heard presentations from several expert speakers including John Monaghan of Devon and Somerset FRS regarding his successful project in Nepal, and George Bryant of Operation Florian who provided an overview of Florian’s Fire Needs Assessment conducted recently for UNHCR Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Travelling all the way from Zimbabwe, and attending the conference for the first time, was Mrs Zhow, Head of the Bulawayo City Council Chamber, who provided a valuable account from the viewpoint of project recipient and the impact that donations have on local communities (Read more about the Zimbabwe project here).

Mrs Zhow, Head of the Bulawayo City Council Chamber

Emma MacLennan of FIRE AID and EASST introduced delegates to FIRE AID and its mission, with a particular focus on its support of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety and the Hyogo Framework for Action and providing delegates with a global overview of the shocking impact and cost of road traffic collisions. Delegates were also fortunate to hear from:

– Adam Komorovski of Mine Action Group (MAG) who spoke of the security considerations of MAG and highlighted that the greatest risk to MAG staff globally is road traffic collisions

– Professor Diana Mitlin of University of Manchester who reported that 1 in 7 of the global population currently live in ‘informal settlements’ with that figure set to rise to 1 in 3 with little fire safety provision in settlements

– and Emily Fereday of RedR UK who focused on personal security, her experiences working overseas in development, and RedR’s role in working to improve resilience of disaster-prone communities by giving them practical life-saving skills, advice and support.

Finishing the conference was Steve Jordan of Operation Florian and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service who reported on the UNISDR Making Cities Resilient Campaign as Greater Manchester, the first UK city region to do so, has been recognised as a role model city for disaster resilience: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/39268.  The presentation further generated awareness to all delegates to the benefits of supporting the campaign in their own project regions as internationally recognised campaign for improving resilience frameworks in cities globally.

For further information about the transformer car please contact: ajaywhaid.SES@outlook.com