To mark the day, we set out at Heathrow to locate some of the people working on the frontline of the three emergency services. Roma Smedley, Skye Hester, Kerry Bye and Reina Williams from our Heathrow Airport team went along to meet some of the emergency services teams, take a few photos and distribute some of our legendary Mile High Teas.
A special thank you to our Heathrow emergency services colleagues.
999 Emergency Services Day is marked every year on 9 September. It celebrates the incredible work that emergency services do, how you can use their services responsibly, as well as promoting careers in the police, ambulance, and fire services.
A few of the Heathrow Police outside Terminal 3 collect their afternoon teas from Roma and Skye.
Keeping everyone safe at Britain’s busiest airport takes some exceptional people and some highly specialised equipment. The fire, police and ambulance teams have to deal with the typical day to day situations that would occur in any location – fire alarms, medical emergencies, car crashes, disruptive behaviour, even injured swans! But they also have to have specialist training and equipment to deal with the unique challenges of operating at a busy airport. That’s why you’ll see teams of armed police, paramedics on bicycles and firefighters driving incredibly specialised fire engines that cost close to a million euros apiece.
The Heathrow Fire Service is independent of the local authority service. Their powerful and sophisticated fire engines can be anywhere on the airport in less than two minutes.
We rarely have to call the Fire, Police, and Ambulance services, but when we do, they are always there for us. We are deeply grateful for all they do for us and our customers. -Suzanne Roddie, Vice President, Airports and Clubhouses
Skye and Roma get a tour of the fire engine courtesy of Grant Mitchener from red watch
The ambulance Cycle Response Unit are experienced frontline paramedics, fully trained to work on their own and operate in busy areas of the airport terminals that are difficult to reach by ambulance. They can reach patients quickly and start to give life-saving treatment while an ambulance is on the way. Their custom-built mountain bikes are even fitted with blue lights and a siren and carry equipment similar to that found on the ambulances, fast response cars and motorcycle response units.
For the vast majority of people who pass through Heathrow, you’ll never encounter the emergency service teams. Still, they are there, ready to swing into action whenever needed. It’s because of them that we can all have great peace of mind when travelling. They allow us to do what we do best: look after our customers and help you through the airport and onto your destinations. From everyone here at Virgin Atlantic to all the emergency services teams at our airports, Thank you.
With extra thanks to the airport police team, fire service red watch and the ambulance cycle response unit for showing us around.