The Emergency awareness event, held at Port Alfred School Thursday October 17 brought together various emergency service workers to educate foundation phase pupils (grades 1-3) on essential safety tips and precautions. The attendees included representatives from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), Ndlambe Municipality Community Protection Services, including the traffic and fire departments, Multi Security, Stenden South Africa’s disaster management students and the Port Alfred Community Policing Forum (CPF). The event started with a national emergency services parade, which showcased the dedicated service of emergency workers.
During the event, students participated in interactive demonstrations and talks, including a CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and water safety presentation by the NSRI, a K9 unit showcase by the South African Police Service (SAPS) highlighting their special skills in searching for illegal substances and bomb disposal, and dog safety and snake education sessions by Ndlambe officials.
Ndlambe Municipality’s Animal Control Officer Anel Slabbert emphasised the importance of calm behaviour around dogs, teaching children to stand still, avoid eye contact, and not run away when encountering potentially dangerous dogs. Willem Nel demonstrated the do’s and don’ts of how to behave around snakes. And Zandisile Ngqokoqwane gave the low-down on beach safety.
Students from Stenden SA spoke about their learning journey on disaster management, while the traffic department stressed the importance of road safety, pedestrian awareness, and responsible behaviour in vehicles to avoid distracting drivers.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, October 24, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
