For fire departments searching for the latest innovation in mobile safety education technology, Mobile Concepts by Scotty has developed the PREP (PLAN, RESPOND, EDUCATE, PREPARE) HOUSE.
This customized mobile classroom features portable technology which will make grant reviewers sit up and take notice. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Fire Prevention and Safety Grants Program awards grants to fire departments for equipment that will enhance their ability to protect the public and fire service personnel from fire and related hazards. The PREP House will enable your department to bring public safety education right where it's needed most to schools, senior citizens' centers, hospitals, and community events - to target high-risk populations.
The versatility of the PREP House has the classroom space your department needs to conduct current programs in and expand into other vital educational arenas including:
- Fire and Burn Prevention
- Injury Prevention
- AED & CPR Training for the General Public
- Residential Sprinkler Awareness
- Classroom Space for training personnel in the area of public education, code enforcement and arson prevention Fire Extinguisher Training for the General Public
- Wildlife Prevention Programs
- General Prevention/Awareness for alarm systems, knox-box installation, address markers and other programs needed in your community
How can you use the newest technology for life safety education and training outreach? Just ask Paramedic Chris St. John from the English Consul Volunteer Fire Department in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was successful in receiving funding through the 2004 Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program for the purchase of his mobile classroom.
Chris customized his mobile classroom to include high-tech functions including highspeed Internet hookups, laptop computers, a multimedia projector, audio-visual equipment, DVD/VCR capabilities, a wireless loudspeaker, and a closed circuit camera system. Real-world training opportunities are not only available for the English Consul Volunteer Fire Department but also for the fire, police, and EMS personnel in his tricounty area.
The large open floor area inside the PREP House has enough classroom space for set up of a CPR manikin and an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Educators can train the general public on these life-saving techniques with minimal staff time for setup or take down. The PREP House can be towed directly to where your students are located; civic organizations, schools, churches, block parties, etc.
As ideas grew and took shape, the English Consul Volunteer Fire Department saw a mobile classroom as a valuable resource not only in community training, but also in firefighter/EMT recruitment and retention. As St. John explained, Since many candidates come from the ranks of our Junior Fire Department, high school and vocational schools, it is impossible to put these young people in hazardous situations just to give them a sense of what lies ahead. We realized that in a high-tech mobile classroom, we could provide that taste. Chris' advice to any fire department seeking government funding to build a mobile classroom is to first develop a list of requirements, then survey the technologies - and write a good grant application, he concludes.
For more information, contact Mobile Concepts by SCOTTY at +1 800 783 0213 or visit their website at www.mobileconcepts.com.