Evacuation Day!

Today was my annual Continuing Qualification day for emergency training - never a day I look forward to but always glad to get it done! Even after 33 years it fills me with dread!

Part of the day is classroom training but the bulk of the day is spent at British Airway’s training facilities where they have all the mock-ups we use. I don’t work for BA but they lease out their facilities to a few airlines who have crew based at Heathrow.

And what does the baby doll have to do with all of this? Well, besides doing a whole series of ‘evacuations’, we work through (and are tested on) several role-play scenarios dealing with potential safety and emergency events that can happen on board . When it is not your turn to be the ‘working crew’, you are a ‘passenger’, sometimes with a script to follow. I found myself being a new mum with this lovely little baby, who thankfully didn’t cry or need feeding or changing while he was in my care! Thankfully my fellow crew member responded to my request with utmost accuracy!

It was a long and intense day, and we didn’t finish until about 8pm. I didn’t feel too tired but I must have been, because I drove right by my exit on the motorway and didn’t even realise it until I got to the next one, about 10 miles away! Oh well, not totally wasted - I had to drive by Aldi to get home and I’ve been wanting to stop there to get something in their weekly sale, so stop I did. And once I got home it was pure bliss to get to bed!