A Safe Stopping demonstration this month for the first time will include a rescue helicopter for a real life display of how the emergency services work together.
The Garden City Rescue Helicopter will work with Safe Stopping at Somerfield School on 10 March from 6.30 - 7.30pm.
This will include a real life demonstration from Police, Fire Service and St John as to what happens at a mock crash. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter will land in the school grounds and evacuate the patient or patients, by air back to base.
The landing site will be secured prior to the helicopter's arrival to ensure that
all spectators and non qualified people are kept at a safe distance from
the helicopter when it lands. Fire and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter will use this demonstration as a training exercise.
Motor vehicle crashes account for 34% of total missions carried out by the rescue helicopter. Rescue helicopters are generally called when it would take more than 30 minutes to take a patient to hospital by ambulance.
Safe Stopping is where police, Fire and Ambulance give graphic real life demonstrations on what happens when a driver has to slam on their brakes to safely stop to avoid a pedestrian. These started four years ago and now take place at primary and secondary schools as well as at polytechs and universities for students who may be a driver or pedestrian. This is a Christchurch initiative which has since gone nation wide.
Each event begins with a demonstration by a driving instructor. A set of cardboard figures in the road remains safe when the car drives towards them and brakes at 50km/h. However at 60 km/h the driver, braking at the same spot, hits one of the life size figures, spraying fake blood over the car and sometimes the on-lookers.
"It is important for children to see what could happen if they don't take care crossing a road and for their parents and drivers as to the distance they need to allow to stop safely. While the children may love the tomato sauce flying it is a very visual lesson on what can happen," says Inspector Derek Erasmus.
"We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to show this aspect of a
patient recovery from a crashed vehicle using the rescue helicopter service."
Members of the audience are invited to ride in the car and discuss the experience afterwards. Stopping distances are measured showing it takes nearly twice as far to stop at 60km/h than at 50 km/h.
The second part of each event is a dramatic staged rescue of victims from a crashed car by the Fire Service and St John. The Fire Service uses the 'jaws of life' to rescue volunteers from the vehicle.
Police talk through traffic management and safety issues.
On average about 300-400 people from each school community attend the evening events, with about 700 students at the CPIT, and 1,000 at Linwood College.
Inspector Derek Erasmus, Canterbury District Police
For more information: