What Services do Firefighters Work With?
If you’re interested in a Firefighter career, you might wonder this – what services do Firefighters work with as part of their daily role?
The UK Fire Service doesn’t just work with the other typical emergency services, they collaborate with a number of other groups too in the interest of protecting and serving the community and public.
In an emergency, Firefighters need to work with other agencies ranging from police, to medical, and even military and security services, and be ready to react whatever the nature of the incident.
So what services do Firefighters work with – emergency and otherwise? Let’s take a look!
The Emergency Services
Perhaps the most obvious emergency services that you can expect to work with regularly as a Firefighter are the police and the ambulance services.
Although Firefighters are trained in basic first aid and life support, paramedics will be on the scene at callouts where there’s the likelihood of injury or loss of life. The police will also be called to incidents to help with crowd and traffic control, and to be ready to apprehend individuals if criminal behaviour is involved.
Although it’s less of a frequent occurrence, at large-scale incidents Firefighters may also have to collaborate with the military or with national security agencies – for example, attacks on national security such as bombings or terrorist activity where members of the public need to be rescued. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but it is part of the job.
Firefighters may also need to work with the coastguard or RNLI to coordinate water rescues. Again, this is a less common event than a Road Traffic Accident, casualty evacuation or fire, but if your FRS is in a costal location you can expect to have to deal with such incidents.
Common Non-Emergency Services
The image of a Firefighter rescuing a cat from a tree isn’t just a stereotype – it really does happen! Animal rescues are one of the most common callouts for the Fire Service, and often require a lot of problem-solving and technical skill.
This means that Firefighters also have to work with animal welfare agencies like the RSPCA or SSPCA. Typically they will call the Fire Brigade after being summoned to an incident with a trapped animal.
On a non-emergency basis the Fire Service also works closely with public services and the healthcare sector, providing another service that constitutes a large part of the Firefighter role – community safety and education.
This could involve community talks, school events, and Safe and Well visits, as well as home fire safety visits. Collaboration with the NHS and Social Services will be involved for vulnerable groups and people.
It’s all part of the wonderfully varied and challenging career of a Firefighter, and this is what attracts many people to the role. Each day brings a fresh challenge, and although the job is a tough one at times, it’s certainly never boring!
