The goal was to give Maretino a general understanding of the type of preventable road trauma events that Fire and Emergency crews deal with and how these events affect first responders. 

Maretino was introduced to this via a powerpoint presentation, “Sights, sounds and smells, a firefighter's perspective at motor vehicle crashes” run by Senior Firefighter Greg Bell during a visit to the Christchurch Central Fire Station. Greg has been working with youth on road safety for a number of years.

This was then followed by introducing him to a fire crew on a rescue tender and assisting with the daily checks on the appliance, Maretino also accompanied them on the appliance for the morning as an observer and was able to attend a minor fire with the crew.

Maretino was then taken to the Woolston training center where he participated with the fire crew doing vehicle extraction. He was positioned inside a vehicle where patient access was gained using hydraulic rescue tools (commonly known as the Jaws of Life) so was able to feel what it was like to be rescued as a patient, Maretino was then shown how the tools work and why we use them in the way we do. He was then able to participate with further dismantling of the vehicle and gain an understanding on how heavy the tools were and how hard the work is physically. 

Maretino participated in a debrief of the scenario and was able to join in the conversation with how he felt and what effect it had on him. Followed by lunch back at the station, Maretino was given a tour of the station and was very engaging with all the firefighters and officers. He asked lots of questions and has a greater understanding of the fire service and the types of incidents we go to, so much so he may even consider it as a future career option.