SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - The Sussex County Department of Public Safety hosted its 24th annual 9-1-1 Awareness Day. Hundreds of 5th grade students from across the county observed demonstrations of what to do in emergency situations.
Dale Roberts, the Quality and Standards Coordinator for the Sussex County Department of Public Safety, tells WBOC what students should take away from this day.
"We don't want them to be scared. We don't want them to be nervous," said Roberts. "The children get a chance to actually see a firefighter dressed as just in civilian clothes, and realize that, oh, this is a real person."
Southern Delaware School of the Arts student, Kaelyn Cannon, says she learned just that.
"Don't be shy or be scared of them because they're trying to help. And it may look scary, but they're just trying to help," said Cannon.
Students from 9 Sussex County schools attended the day and got to participate in many demonstrations, including how to perform CPR, how to escape a burning building, and how to safely feel if a fire is behind a door.
"Our goal is with the quicker we get somebody there to get the heart beating again and getting blood moving around the body, the better chance that they'll survive from a sudden cardiac arrest," said CPR demonstration leader, Lewis Sacks.
The students also got to take a tour of the 9-1-1 Call Center inside the Public Safety Complex.