Ready, teddy, go!

Cork County's fire crew has some new furry recruits! Over 50 cuddly teddy bears are joining Cork County Council’s Fire Service before Christmas and will be assigned a very important job.

These bears will become part of the fire crew in every fire station in Cork and will ride on all fire trucks in the County.

The buddy bears will form an integral part of the fire service team and are there to help children that are involved in or witness traumatic emergency situations.

The job of all the bears is primarily to reduce the suffering of children at incidents and to help children cope with the stresses that they feel from their involvement in a traumatic event.

It is hoped the bears will help redirect the focus of the child away from the emergency situation as much as possible, to a comforting friend during the incident.

Co-ordinating this initiative on behalf of Cork County Fire Service, Assistant Fire Officer (AFO)Aaron Fahy has served in the fire service for many years and brings huge experience to the project. He is currently training the bears for this important job!

AFO Fahy said: “For the bears to spring into action, a child may not necessarily need to be injured, it may be that the child is a witness to an incident that causes distress. To ensure the maximum effectiveness of the bears, they will be used only in circumstances where required. The teddy bears may not be given out at every incident but they will be deployed where the fire and rescue personnel considers it to be appropriate.”

The bears in training also had a special message for all the boys and girls in Cork: “We are training very hard at the moment in the fire station and learning how we can help all the boys and girls we meet. We love hugs and kisses and will be there to look after you if you need us and hope you can also look after us.”

Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Christopher O’Sullivan, was on hand to welcome the new buddy bears to the fire service team at a launch event in Millstreet Fire Station. He said: “It’s great to see these bears joining the team - they have a very important job to assist fire service personnel in any situation where they can help keep children calm and alleviate stress. It’s a wonderful initiative.”