Kids, parents enjoy emergency services' expo

Patient Mikayla Harwood, 10, lays still as Red Cross volunteers Lynne Meldrum, left, and Pania Slade work on fixing her 'broken femur'. Photo / Hannah Norton

Dozens of children and parents crowded around and watched in awe as firefighters cut someone free from a crashed car with the jaws of life.

And in a tent only metres away, Red Cross volunteers tended to wounded patients with injuries such as compound fractured femurs.

Thankfully, both scenes were just demonstrations and the blood just make-up as part of a family fun day put on by emergency services.

Representatives from police, St John, Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) and the fire service - to name a few - converged on Kensington Park yesterday for the event which included demonstrations, simulations and activities and games for children.

"It's been pretty cool. They've really enjoyed all the activities we've put on for them," Whangarei police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said.

"The key message is around people keeping themselves safe over the summer period," she said.

Event spokesman Steve MacMillan said the day was about recognising the work that emergency services workers do on a daily basis.

"It's really neat to come together and pay tribute to them."

It was also a way of saying thanks to the public after $150,000 was raised in the latest NEST campaign, he said.

Demonstrations included the NEST helicopter winching volunteers from a Coastguard boat on a trailer in the field and fire-fighters putting out a simulated kitchen fire.

Children could take part in a range of activities, including a kids police competency test, using fatal vision goggles (which impair vision) while trying to kick a rugby ball, and looking inside emergency services vehicles such as police cars, ambulances and a NEST helicopter.

Twelve-year-old Cruz Marsters wants to be in the army and said he was most interested in the activities put on by police.

"I did the drug busts where you had to see how far you could crawl, and I did the police (competency) test, but my favourite was beating the speed camera."

Children had the opportunity to run in a race against the police radar and beat the time set by Tane the Taniwha earlier in the day.

Other groups there included White Ribbon and Riders Against Teen Suicide, with a convoy of about 20 motorcycles, Bluelight, rural fire and Skywork helicopters.