A light-hearted video using children to depict the role of State Emergency Service crews has emerged, much to the delight of the youngsters involved.
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Gisborne SES wrote and shot the video, titled Lost Teddy, the aim of which was to educate the public on what the service does.
“We wanted to get the kids to do what grown ups do and it was very comical,” said Gisborne SES controller Ben Kelly.
The video, which has over 1000 views, features a number of volunteer members’ children, one of whom falls backwards while traversing through bushland after being startled by a spider web.
“The kids loved doing it,” said Mr Kelly, adding the video took 10 months to create.
There was a serious side to the video however, namely educating the public on the role of the SES.
“It's a thing that people don't know what we do,” Mr Kelly said.
“The fire brigades and their PR (public relations) machine is quite big whereas the SES are the quiet achievers.”
The volunteer service is involved in storms, floods, and are part of tsunami and earthquake response, he said.
It also helps with missing people, police and fire brigade operations.
“The kind of people that join the SES don't look for recognition in any way,” Mr Kelly said.
Fortunately, the children found the lost teddy and returned it home.
