TEMA FIRE SERVICE PREPARES FOR COMPETITION (PAGE 18, MARCH 6, 2010)

Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in the Tema Region have undertaken a district exercise to select the best team to represent Tema in a Regional Extrication Challenge competition in June 2010.
The competition was aimed at selecting a team to represent Ghana in an international competition on extrication challenges, at the instance of the World Extrication Organisation (WEO) based in the UK.
Personnel involved in the competition were drawn from ,Tema, Ada, Ashaiman ,Dodowa and Industrial Fire stations .
The fire personnel were supervised and judged by experts referred to as ‘Assessors’ who took into consideration the expert handling of equipment, effective rescue operation, pre-hospital care and the swiftness with which personnel undertook the exercise .
According to the Tema Regional Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Mr Timothy Osafo-Affum, the competition was aimed at strengthening the men in the performance of their duties.
Mr Affum said the WEO had among its regulations the need for every participating district to have an extricating equipment .
He said this called for a collaborative competition because in the Tema Region only Tema and Ada had the equipment, and therefore would deny those who lacked access to the equipment from taking part in the competition .
He said Ghana had benefited in terms of equipment and training from the World Extrication Organisation to enable GNFS to build an internal extrication team at the various stations.
Mr Affum said membership of the competition had made personnel of the GNFS one of the best in the world.
He explained that the WEO considered the rescue of accident victims very crucial hence the need to train more fire personnel to save lives.
The Tema Regional Commander of the GNFS, Mr Gilford T.Adams, in an interaction with the media said accident level in the region was mounting, noting that from January 2010 to the end of February 2010 , the station had recorded nine accidents ,72 casualties and two deaths on the motorway .
He cautioned drivers to be careful on the motorway, noting that road works had rendered the road rough and bumpy, and that ‘the DVLA has a role to play by ensuring that only road worthy vehicles were allowed on the roads’.
Mr Adams said it was unfortunate that people who reported accidents did not give adequate information on the location and the nature of accidents.
He appealed to the public to help the GNFS to save situations in time by stating if it was flood , fire or accident to enable the personnel to prepare adequately to handle it .
Mr Adams also called on drivers to adhere to sirens, which according to the law, was an indication to give way to traffic, which would enable firemen to arrive at accident scenes on time to bring situations under control .
Mr Adams said Ghana had one of the best fire service in the world but unfortunately it lacked equipment with which to work .
He said Tema currently needed two extrication vehicles to be stationed at the motorway and on the Ada road to save lives and property .
Mr Adams was happy that the GNFS was a member of the WEO which had afforded Ghana the opportunity to take part in the competition for the past three years .
He commended the firemen for their smart turnout and the seriousness they attached to the programme. .