Enough is enough.
Firefighters need the support of those they serve-
YOU THE PUBLIC
You will have by now either read or seen on
TV the Governments 'version' regarding our industrial action to
ensure 'Fair Pay for Firefighters and Control staff'. Whether you
agree or not we feel it is time we were allowed to put our
case forward directly to you, to defend ourselves against the
onslaught of criticism and untruths which has left highly
professional , highly trained, dedicated public servants felling
at best-WORTHLESS
Please take a few moments to read this leaflet then at least you
can make up your own mind as to whether we are worth it or not.
Thank You
Under the vague heading of 'Modernisation' the Government wants to make radical changes to the Fire Service, we now know that this means job losses, fire station closures and a reduction in the number of Fire Engines. Ultimately this will affect the publics safety and an increase if fire deaths and serious injuries will undoubtedly occur.
The Government wants to :-
Fires at night have the potential to go unnoticed for longer, making the threat to life greater. Reducing the number of Firefighters on duty at night would endanger the public further by having less Firefighters responding to these fires, making rescues of people trapped in burning buildings much more hazardous and ultimately less successful.
At present the Governments own legislation must guarantee two Fire Engines to attend a house fire within eight minutes, with a crew of nine Firefighters. If the number of Firefighters are reduced then house fires could be attended by just one Fire Engine with only five or possibly four Firefighters.
The so called overtime ban was agreed initially to save money and to safeguard Firefighters jobs in the Fire Service.
Look at it this way - A Firefighter working an extra shift of overtime per week, being paid at time and a half, multiply this by thousands for Firefighters on hundreds of Fire Stations around the country. Surely it makes financial sense to employ the extra Firefighters, which would do away with the need for overtime and simply pay them 'normal' time.
The initial savings made from reducing the
number of Firefighters would soon be surpassed by the huge
overtime bill.
Our current shift pattern of 2 x 9 hour day shifts, followed by 2 x 15 hour night shifts then 3 rest days ensures 100% fire cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The shifts encompass weekends, public holidays and Christmas as a matter of course.
The shift pattern is ideally suited to the job we do. Recently the Police have changed from their traditional 'mornings, afternoons and nights shift pattern to a similar system to ours.
Firefighters, Junior and Senior offices working within other areas of the Fire Service i.e. Training, Fire Prevention, Community Fire Safety etc. are able to work a day duty system, i.e. No night shifts, between them these shift patterns gives perhaps the most flexible and family friendly shift patterns available. Any change to this system would not save money-we don’t get any night duty allowance- however it would make the job of finding childcare for firefighters who need it extremely difficult.
Firefighters training as Paramedics would just not be realistic. A Paramedic receives 4 years intensive training to become a qualified -PARAMEDIC .
A Firefighter receives 5 years training before qualifying as a -FIREFIGHTER
Paramedics are extremely good at what they do, as we are at what we do, it would do the public an injustice if we tried to become
a 'Jack of all trades' .
Not only would it be impracticalfor Firefighters to be trained as Paramedics it would also cost millions of pounds for the training and equipment, just when the Government says it needs to cut costs.
Lets say we were trained as Paramedics and get called to a serious Medical emergency, we would treat the casualty as necessary but then what, a Fire Engine is not an ambulance, we can't carry stretchers-there's no room, there's no where for a patient to go, so we couldn't transport them to a hospital.
If Firefighters become trained as Paramedics it would destroy the already under funded and understaffed but excellent Ambulance/Paramedic service this country already has.
Anyway every Firefighter is fully trained as a First Aider and must complete regular assessments in basic life support, resuscitation and oxygen therapy applicatio
Establishing joint control rooms with other emergency services looks good on paper and has been looked into over many years. However the tragic events of September 11 2001 highlighted one serious problem that halted any further investigation into establishing joint control rooms. If the control systems of the Police, Fire and Ambulance services were all together in one room or building it would take only one terrorist attack on that building to wipe out the whole emergency mobilizing response system for the whole region.
This Brigade like many others has been carrying defibrillators on appliances for a number of years now. They have been donated by The British Heart Foundation and the decision to carry them was made by the Fire Service and not by some Government directive. In order to be proficient in the use of these defibrillators we have to be re-assessed every three months, this training is carried out by qualified instructors and the Brigade receives no extra funding from the Government for this training,
Every Fire appliance carries oxygen therapy/resuscitation equipment and has done for many many years. Firefighters are fully trained in its use and train with it and are assessed on its use constantly.
As you can see the key points to the Governments 'modernisation' agenda can be argued away by simple common sense. Of course this is OUR VIEW - The Firefighters. Is it biased ? we don't think so. We have been attacked venomously over the past few weeks we hope this leaflet has gone some way to setting the record straight. Visit any Fire Station, talk to any Firefighter they can show you the truth-a big red Fire Engine crammed full of life saving equipment, ready to be used by the most dedicated, professional and humanitarian people you could ever meet.
So who would you rather believe a Politician
or a Firefighter ?
If your house caught fire or you're trapped in your car who would
you put your faith in a Politician or a Firefighter ?
Thank you for your time and your support.