On Valentine’s Day this year members of the Rāpaki whānui came together to share the aroha and learn more about the facilities and equipment within our beautiful wharenui.
It was a fun, informative day designed to up skill the locals on using fire safety equipment and use of the AED – automated external defibrillator.
Presenters from Fire Fighting Pacific and St Johns attended and gave presentations, and then we all had the opportunity to use the fire extinguishers and defibrillator that have been installed at the marae.
There were quite a few laughs and some interesting stories from whānui about their own experiences, and most importantly we now have a good number of people who are familiar with using this equipment, which may well save lives and property in the future.
Some of the things we learnt included:
- Don’t leave your laptop turned on sitting on furniture when you are not using it. Turn it off or if you must leave it on, make sure you turn it over onto its screen side so that heat can escape.
- Don’t piggy back your multi boards, it will lead to trouble.
- How to quickly identify what type of extinguisher you have and what type of fire to use it on, or not.
- What to look for when someone has been hurt and how to check them for possible injuries or health issues.
- What is included in AED (automated external defibrillator) and when to use it.
- How to use the defibrillator and what it does.
- How to use some of those flash looking lights and blinds in the wharenui.
Rāpaki whānui watch carefully during one of the presentations.
Rāpaki whānui were keen to learn some new skills.
Rāpaki whānui.
Fighting fire.