UTC South Durham hosted County Durham and Darlington Fire Service to recreate a patient extraction from a RTA in the engineering hall to highlight the dangers of the road for Road Safety Week.

Two 6th form students, Ben Thrower and Stephen Henry bravely volunteered to be the ‘patients’ and to be cut out of the car whilst their fellow students watched the whole demo from the balcony.

UTC South Durham Deputy Principal, Jenny Trapp organised the event at UTC and said, “Many of our 6th form students have begun taking driving lessons and some have passed their driving test. As an educational setting, we feel it’s really important to not only educate them on academic matters but also about their wellbeing and the wider world too. Many of our students live in the rural communities that surround us and driving on those roads can be tricky at times, especially for new and young drivers with little experience.”

The scenario the team faced was that the car had been crashed into a tree, and they had two severely injured passengers in the car that were trapped.

Jenny continued, “Many of our students undertake academic courses in Science, Technology Engineering and Maths here, but we also provided an additional enrichment programme for all students that attend here to add additional value to their education and to support their studies where possible. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the team at the Newton Aycliffe station of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service for highlighting the importance of road safety to our students.”

For additional information about UTC South Durham please call 01325 430 250 or visit the website on: www.utcsouthdurham.org to see the range of courses available to GCSE students and A-Level students.