Vema and ER24 paramedics Shannon Charles and Paul Knoesen joined Hirsch’s in Hillcrest to present a very informative talk on keeping safe during this festive season. Shannon Charles spoke on child safety around the home and on the road. Charles also spoke on what to do in an emergency situation should your child land up in a difficult situation. Plenty of questions were asked. Charles made a mention particularly towards the safety around swimming pools the preventative methods that should be used to prevent injuries and unwanted circumstances. He also urged the guests to ensure that whilst driving in a vehicle to make sure that all passengers including the driver are strapped in correctly. Paul Knoesen who is the ER24 West Operations Manager spoke on travel safety and what to do to prevent yourself from been involved in an unwanted incident. Paul suggested that before travelling check your tyres are of good quality, that the pressure is correct and that your tyres are the correct fit for your particular vehicle. Always keep the basic tools used for changing a tyre available in your vehicle. He also urged motorists to please stop for a rest every two hours and use this time to plan the rest of your route and if travelling with Kids and passengers this will allow them to stretch. Knoesen also touched on the safety of using seatbelts and how important it is “it does save lives” he said. From a safety side always travel with locked doors. When stopping at a new venue, always keep an extra eye on your kids, new places encourage kids to become impulsive to exploring. Sadly over the holiday season a large percentage of child deaths are due to drowning. Paul encouraged parents to always supervise children whilst swimming, to be aware of strong currents in the sea, always swim were there a lifeguards on duty and if near a pool to ensure that it is fenced off correctly and to make sure that there are no pots or anything with height that a child can climb onto to get over a fence. If in doubt put water wings or a life jacket on a child but It is essential that a parent does not rely on this to keep their child safe. Another cause of unwanted medical situations is the lack of Sun precaution. Always remember to apply a high factor sun screen regularly throughout the day, keep yourselves covered with clothing and a hat and drink plenty of water. The most dangerous times during the day are between 11am and 15pm Said Knoesen. What must also not be forgotten is you can burn just a badly on a cloudy day so it is imperative that the same safety tips get followed. We thoroughly enjoyed having members from VEMA and ER24 join us Said Sarah Brauns, We had a fantastic turnout and found the information given extremely beneficial. It is always good to have a reminder.