When the fire alarm went off at school recently lots of the three and four year olds at nursery were a bit scared. The loud noise. The rush of activity as everyone hurried outside to congregate.

Of course, not our Quinns. He loved it! I’ve had reports from various sources about how excited he actually was at seeing everyone in the school and then even better seeing the fire engine!

So of course when we heard the local fire station was having an open day we knew we had to take Quinns. In fact every time we discussed it his hand shot straight up in the air meaning ‘I want to go!’

I wasn’t quite sure what we’d experience but they had laid on quite a show with various emergency vehicles on display. There were opportunities to get inside a few different vehicles and have a look at the controls. I think by now you can probably see where this is going.

The fire engine was not accessible to him. I do think that is understandable though. While I have every dream for his future career I’m not sure fireman is likely as I’m fairly certain they are in peak physical condition.

It might surprise you though that when Quinns had to be taken to hospital by ambulance a while back that actually it wasn’t very accessible. After carrying him on the only option was for me to lie on the bed and hold Quinns across me.

We also had to leave the Bug behind in the Health Centre to be picked up by Dad. So when we arrived at the hospital I had to carry Quinns from the ambulance bay to the ward as standard wheelchairs just don’t work for him. That was all fine when he was two but it worries me slightly now that’s he four.

Anyway back to the fire station open day. We found out that there’s a new fleet of ambulances. The new ones have been kitted out with a five point harness and have more space so will be able to transport Quinns comfortably along with the Bug or wheelchair.

The lift also allowed Quinns access to have a look inside. The staff were incredibly helpful when we asked if Quinns could have a look. Being the first to ask for access meant the ambulance had to be driven into a position to give the lift space to be lowered. Obviously that caused quite a scene as everyone had to move out of the way.

Once on board no-one else was allowed on with him much to the annoyance of Big Sister who waited patiently for Quinns to have his shot.

Again all this is fine now when Quinns is four but I can see why an older child would choose not to have such a fuss made in order to simply see inside an ambulance.