Londonderry News

By Alec O’Meara
Union Leader Correspondent

Frito Lay truck drivers got a taste of a different kind of crunch Friday as drivers and sales associates learned more of the hazards driving while distracted can have as part of a driver safety day yesterday at the chip king’s Londonderry location. Representatives of Londonderry Fire were invited for the workshop, which included a mock car accident and extrication demonstration, said Debbie Evans, a lead sales associate at Frito Lay’s Londonderry location. After setting up a fake car versus truck accident, Londonderry firefighters were called to the warehouse to show how paramedics respond to a serious head-on collision with entrapment. As part of the demonstration, employees were told the driver of the car had been text messaging on his cell phone at the time of the accident, Evans said.

“Frito Lay has a strict ‘no electronic devices while driving’ policy, but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t aware that there are others on the road who are talking on cell phones and what have you,” Evans said. “We need to not only be aware of our own driving on the road, but also be aware of other distracted drivers as well.”

Firefighters were able to safely remove the “victim,” a volunteer from the Frito Lay staff, in approximately 14 minutes, said Captain James Roger of Londonderry Fire. Firefighters demonstrated the techniques used to free the driver with hydraulic cutting devices that tore into the car frame like it was a bag of potato chips. Afterwards, the responders used the remaining time to show sales associates how to properly use a fire extinguisher, Roger said.

The training session was the first of its kind for Frito Lay, Evans said, and was successful enough that the chip-maker will likely follow up with similar demonstrations at its other corporate offices. Evans said she was impressed by the department’s crisp service.

“Our reaction was wow. Just wow. We were very, very impressed with Londonderry Fire and how they handled the situation, even if it was just an exercise,” Evans said. “Our driver in the car said he was in constant contact with the firefighters and was really put at ease over the whole event.”

Roger said Frito Lay was a gracious host and he hoped the training exercise would spark interest from other local businesses in forming a partnership with the department for future training sessions and demonstrations.

“People forget that we aren’t just Londonderry Fire, we are Londonderry Fire and Emergency Services. We are always looking for ways to extend our partnerships into the community,” Roger said.

Reprinted with the permission of the author.  This was published in the Union Leader Monday Morning.  It  showcases the great partnership Londonderry first responders have with Londonderry  corporations.  It was published under the original headline “Londonderry firefighters teach, dazzle at Frito-Lay” and was only available in the print version of the paper.  This is the unedited version of the story and may differ slightly than the one in the paper.