Firestyle Magazine: Issue 5 - Autumn 2016

Toyota UK
supports Cheshire Fire & Rescue
Service on road to response
Donations from a leading car manufacturer to
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service are helping
firefighters with a vital component of their training and
contributing to their safety.
In its efforts to continually improve road safety
and as part of its commitment to corporate social
responsibility, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd has
found a perfect means of recycling trial vehicles.
Derbyshire based Toyota has donated nine trial
vehicles to Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service so that
they can be cut up, stripped open and prised apart
by firefighters as part of their training.
Gus O’Rourke, Head of Operational Policy and
Assurance for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service
explains: “Automotive technology is advancing all the
time and vehicles have changed in ways that make
rescues more complicated and dangerous for the
Service.
“ Firefighters now face a host of unknowns at the
scene of any serious motor accident such as new
types of steel that are tougher to cut, air bag systems,
panoramic roofs and high-voltage cables in hybridelectric
cars to name but a few.
“Studying the construction and material of new
vehicles is often not possible so we are very
grateful to Toyota for their donations. We use the
vehicles to simulate emergency situations which
are designed to improve firefighters’ response
skills, including extrication techniques and space
creation to aid the medical treatment of injured
occupants.”
Toyota’s support of this training gives the Service
the valuable opportunity to get real hands on
experience using some of the most recent model
vehicles out on the road and has also influenced
a review of the Service’s cutting equipment and
procedures. Consequently, this has had a major
impact on performance, the safety of firefighters
and the speed of extrication of casualties.
Nick Freeman, Assistant General Manager, External
Affairs at Toyota Manufacturing UK added: “We
are proud to support the fire and rescue service
in saving lives by helping to make the roads safer
through the donation of Toyota trial vehicles.”
The Service attended 385 road traffic accidents
in last 12 months and rescued more people from
collisions on Cheshire’s roads than from house fires.
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