Emergency Services Day (Tuesday 9 September) was marked by an official flag-raising event in Lisburn to honour those who work for the emergency services and the NHS.
The Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Alderman Amanda Grehan, speaking at Lagan Valley Island said: “We commemorate Emergency Services Day with immense gratitude. It is an opportunity for us to take time to reflect and show our support for the heroic people working in our emergency services – and the many volunteers who help deliver this vital work. They all help to keep us safe and provide vital assistance in times of need.
“In our area we have over 149,100 residents who are supported by these teams. Their quick actions have saved the lives of many and they continue to show remarkable resilience and compassion. To have the Air Ambulance, headquartered in Lisburn, is significant for our city as it provides pre-hospital critical care to people right across Northern Ireland and the border counties.
“As Mayor, I offer a heart-felt ‘thank you’ on behalf of all our residents to the amazing emergency services personnel in both our area and right across the UK. Over 2 million people work and volunteer in our NHS and emergency services under unprecedented pressure to keep the country safe.”
As part of the event, a two-minute period of silence was observed to remember over 7,500 members of the emergency services who have been killed in the line of duty over the last 200 years.
Emergency Services Day - also known as 999 Day - promotes the work of the emergency services which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and educates the public about how to use them responsibly. There are six main branches of the emergency services: police; fire and rescue; ambulance; NHS; maritime (Coastguard and Lifeboats); and search and rescue (mountain, lowland, mine and cave).
To commemorate this special day, flags were raised across Northern Ireland on Tuesday 9 September at government, emergency services and local authority buildings.