YEAR six children from Cestria Primary School were invited to learn about safety at the Durham Safety Carousel, in Sacriston.

The workshop was full of different activities to educate children about the dangers of electricity, fire, drugs etc and to inform them of the role of the emergency services.

As part of the carousel, Mr Thompson from Durham Police held a talk on hoax calls and the dangers involved.

The children were shown a short reconstruction of a hoax call which put three lives in danger. Two boys made a hoax call and sent the fire brigade ten miles in the wrong direction, so the emergency services not to be able to attend a real emergency.

The children were told that, out of 200,000 calls made to the emergency services each year, more than 80,000 are hoax calls.

A fire brigade officer showed the children how to escape from a fire unharmed, and he selected a child to make a 999 call requiring the fire service.

The children joined in the demonstration by checking a door for heat to tell how close the fire was, and were shown how to lower themselves from the window of a burning building.

Year six watched a reconstruction of the site of a road accident and an ambulance driver explained how to keep safe and calm in an emergency.

He did a demonstration involving a young boy who had been knocked off his bicycle by a passing car, near a zebra crossing.

He showed the children how to make a 999 call, giving all the information the emergency services need, such as the location of the accident, how serious the injury is and how many victims are involved.

A representative from Northern Electric spoke to the children about the dangers of playing near electricity. The instructor told them never to play near pylons with kites, or fishing rods because they might make contact with the electricity cables. The person holding the kite or fishing rod could be electrocuted.

One of the stations the year six pupils visited was the first aid station supervised by a lady from the St John Ambulance.

The children were taught what to do if someone is in a dangerous situation. Firstly, switch off the electricity and remove any danger. Secondly, make sure the person is out of danger, dial 999 and then ask the operator for the ambulance service. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, the pupils were advised to put the casualty into the recovery position.

At the presentation on drugs, the children noticed posters all around the room which explain how dangerous drugs are.

The pupils organised themselves into three groups and took part in a quiz about legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.