St John Rescue Corps is opening its doors to anyone interested in its life-saving services on Sunday.

The corps is inviting visitors to its headquarters and training school at Fort Madalena in Madliena between 10am and 4pm for a recruitment open day.

There will be demonstrations of rescue operations carried out during road traffic accidents and tips on how to prevent and handle kitchen fires. A high angle rescue operation will also be carried out and the public will have the opportunity to abseil. There will be rescue equipment on display and guided tours of the fort itself.

St John Rescue Corps will also be recruiting volunteers willing to join the organisation and give a service to the Maltese community during national events and emergencies.

The training programme for new volunteers, which is held on Saturday afternoons, spans over a period of six months and covers modules such as rope work, compass and map reading, basic fire awareness, first aid together with the use of an automated external defibrillator, casualty handling, ladder work and radio communication. Training will be provided by experienced instructors.

Participants who successfully complete this training programme will be awarded the recognised certificate of Rescue Volunteer Class 1. Volunteers may then proceed onto other specialised training courses such as Urban Search and Rescue, High Angle Rescue, Fire Fighting and Water Rescue. Besides rescue work, other volunteers are required in areas of administration, maintenance and logistics, which are all critical roles within this organisation.

Anyone interested in joining the St John Rescue Corps can obtain further information during the recruitment open day or may otherwise visit the fort and on any Saturday between 2pm and 6pm. Information about volunteering with the rescue corps may also be obtained by sending an email on join@stjohnrescuecorps.org.