Myrtleford P-12 College was the base for Alpine Shire's annual Resilience Emergency Action Planning (REAP) Day, with students from St Mary's Primary School joining in the workshops run by local representatives of the emergency services last Thursday.
The school oval was taken over by emergency service vehicles (and became the perfect stage as the battle of the sirens rang out on a number of occasions), as students rotated in groups between the Australian Red Cross (ARC), Koori education, DEECA, Alpine Shire Rangers, 72 Hour Program, SES, CFA, Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police showcases.
From the ARC, children learned about the Pillowcase Program; what would they pack to take with them in an emergency if they had to leave their home.
"Today is about getting the children at this young age to start thinking, without waiting for an adult to tell them what to do in a crisis," ARC volunteer, Lynne Jones said.
"There are 20 picture cards in the exercise and each table has to agree on eight essential things to take with them; water, food, pet supplies and so on.
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"Then we tell them to take two things out...it's interesting to see what they think is most important.
"The main thing we want to convey is to be calm, so you can listen to what you need to do.
"The aim for these sessions is for the children to go home tonight and ask what is the household's emergency plan."
At the CFA truck site, students had a go operating the fire hose, learned about when to change smoke alarm batteries (every six months) and how fire blankets are used to smother flames.
Myrtleford CFA captain, Gloria Pizzolitto, said the day was very helpful to reiterate CFA safety messages.
"There's been great engagement from the students," she said.
"They know quite a lot about fire safety."
Representatives from the Myrtleford and Benalla SES units spoke to the children about what was involved in signing up and share their own experiences as SES members.
Myrtleford SES Unit controller, David Coates, said the topic of home emergency kits had some students debating the merits of bringing a teddy bear with you in a crisis.
"Overall our talks have been very well received and the kids enjoyed getting involved in the games," he said.
"They learned about natural disasters and had a look at our rescue truck stocked with the tools and equipment we use during road accidents."
Students were engrossed at the DEECA and Forrest Fire Management Victoria (FFM-Vic) showcase, as smoke signals floated into the air from the fire table, designed to give the children an idea of firefighting conditions in remote locations.
"The kids have been so engaged, particularly with the fire table," FFM-Vic engagement management officer, Ben Johnson said.
"Often you can't just drive a firetruck into dense bushland, you have to work together with the helicopter and sometimes make a space for it to land.
"As part of our demonstration, we pass around a backpack with three litres of water and a heap of equipment and ask them to think about transporting it all into dense bushland...it quickly becomes very heavy."
