Oct 30 - Standard Response Instructors Course For Blue Light Drivers
Officers of HM Customs Gibraltar and the City Fire Brigade have attended a three week course which has seen them qualify as Blue Light Driver Standard Response Instructors. The course has been delivered locally by Driving Instructors from HM Customs Gibraltar, Geraldine Celecia and Charles Jaques and assisted on the third week by Mr Robert Brittain, a UK National Standard Response Driver Instructor with the Cheshire Constabulary.
Three members from Gibraltar HM Customs; AO’s Patrick Ivan Cornelio, Jonathan Duarte and EO John Payas together with Leading Firefighters Kevagn Estella and Karl Sciortino from the City Fire Brigade undertook the course which was divided into three parts;
During the first part officers where trained to be able to undertake Emergency Responses safely and correctly. They had to demonstrate a safe approach to driving and thus develop an increased awareness to recognising real and potential hazards and the adoption of a system of driving that leaves nothing to chance. It also involved learning whether an 'emergency response' is justifiable and should be maintained, correctly anticipating and responding to the actions of other road users when emergency warning equipment is used, making safe and appropriate progress when using warning equipment and retaining a duty of care while using legal exemptions.
For the second part, the students undertook a Driver Trainer course which covered areas such as classroom management, teaching strategies, lesson planning, coaching, etc. This involved preparing and delivering a series of classroom and ‘on the road’ practical lessons.
Throughout the third week the local instructors where assisted by Mr Brittain who assessed the drivers on all the areas covered throughout the first two weeks, finding them competent to successfully qualify as Driving Instructors in the use of blue light beacons and sirens – known in the emergency services as ‘blues and twos’.
