Emergency services learn signs in bid to save more lives

Police officers and firefighters were trained by Makaton regional tutor Hannah Anderson to learn an array of “signs” that could be used to aid them in during an emergency. The lessons are part of a drive by the market town to become more accessible to the disabled visitors and residents.

Since the initial launch of the bid to make Romsey the first Makaton Friendly Town in the UK, a lot of interest and discussion has been generated within the community.

Speaking earlier this year, Romsey Fire Station’s watch manager Antony Hurle said the language tools will be extremely useful when helping someone in an emergency.

“We have asked them to come and talk to us so we can communicate effectively in an emergency and also in everyday community friendly situations,” he added.

“We have already done some deaf awareness training, but we are open to any other forms of communication we can learn that can help save lives.”

Makaton uses symbols to help people to communicate and is designed to support spoken language and the natural gestures used with speech.

This helps provide extra clues about what someone is saying.

For those who have experienced the frustration of being unable to communicate meaningfully or effectively, Makaton enables individuals to connect with other people and the world around them. This opens up all kinds of possibilities.

Bosses at the Makaton charity say accreditation will be given to the town if 30 businesses in Romsey can learn 20 signs or symbols which they can then use to communicate with.

Alex Kelly ltd, which runs Speaking Space, has offered to run free two-hour taster sessions for interested businesses, which is enough time to learn the 20 symbols.

Each business will also have a Makaton card, which displays a number of symbols, that can be used to aid communication further. If you wish to attend these sessions contact Hannah at hannah@alexkelly.biz or phone 02380987134.