If you casually strolled into Old Macdonald’s Farm on 8^th June you might have thought there was a riot going on as you would not have been greeted by the sound of happy sheep baaing or cows lowing, but instead the air was filled with Police and Fire Engine Sirens! However this was because our first ever local heroes’ day at Old Macdonald’s Farm was such a superb success and we would like to thank those members of the Police Service, the Fire Service and the Four Parishes First Responders who gave up their time for the day. We appreciated it and perhaps more importantly so did you, our visitors. 

The Police Service brought two vehicles, one of them a police dogs unit, and had a busy time talking about their work, discussing crime prevention, and giving out gifts! To show how these were serving officers who risk their health, and indeed their lives for us, our officer with his two dogs had to leave at lunchtime because of a police emergency in Essex where his two highly trained dogs, one a German Shepherd the other an English Springer, were desperately needed. 

The Fire Service not only sent an officer down from first thing in the morning with packs on Smoke Alarms and fire safety but also arranged for a Fire Tender to come at lunchtime with a crew of 4 officers, who that morning had enjoyed the pleasure of making an award to 4 year old Leah, a real local hero, who saved her family by raising the alarm when she smelled smoke and whose story was featured in the local paper. We would have to say that everyone loved to sit in the police car and fire engine sounding the sirens, and the only problem our customers had was waiting for our staff to finish as they wanted to try out this too! Many of those who came have lots of surprising photos to show of the visit to Old Macdonald’s Farm on 8^th June. 

Last, but by no means least, was the very popular display from the local Four Parishes First Responders Team who came along to give information on their vital work and also seek volunteers to join them. First Responders are volunteer members of the community who are trained to respond to emergency calls through the 999 system in conjunction with the Ambulance Service. Responders provide immediate care to patients in their local areas where distance may delay the prompt arrival of an ambulance. They are trained to deliver Basic Life Support and defibrillation to patients in Cardiac Arrest and appropriate calls including oxygen administration to patients suffering from a range of conditions.

If you want to give up some of your time to help save others you really could not do any better than joining your local First Responder’s Team. Phone Essex Ambulance Service’s community manager John Hopkins on 01787 477545 to contact your nearest team of First Responders. Or you can blog us here at Old Macdonald’s Farm. 

The pictures on this article were not of the day at the farm because we have not got ours back yet, but if you were at the farm on June 8^th and would like to share your photos of the Local Heroes Day, then email them to us at oldmacdonalds@btconnect.com and they will go straight on here with full credit to you along with a free entry ticket as our appreciation! It was a privilege for us to share our farm with these members of our local emergency services and by public demand we will be doing the same thing again this year, rest assured!

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.