Our Community Risk Management Plan

Hello, My name's watch manager Nick Kingett of the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

And today we're filming at Peaks Lane Fire Station in Grimsby.

We're going to be talking today about a service delivery and what that means within the Fire and Rescue service.

So we have response within a fire station, which is what we're going to show you today, one of our fire engines.

But we also have a section called emergency preparedness.

I work in emergency preparedness.

And we're also going to expand with a bit of knowledge on the background of what that means and hopefully explain to the public what our service does.

So today I'm going to be showing you the fire engine.

We have several lockers on the fire engines and each one represents a different part of our role.

Obviously, we respond to fires, but we also respond to rescue.

So the first locker I'd like to show you here on my right hand side was going to look at RTCS, which stands for Rd Traffic Collisions.

So we're able to use our rope rescue system to be able to lift and also for our fire service personnel to be able to be lowered.

Also at the bottom shelf here, we've got something called APPV, which stands for positive pressure ventilation.

If you can picture a fire post incident, the house has lots of smoke in it.

Smoke is a hazard.

This gives us a mechanical machine to be able to blow the smoke out of the house post incident.

So moving down, you'll see the middle locker is very symmetrical to what we have on the other side.

Basically it just depending on what side of the incident is when the fire engine gets there.

This gives us resilience to be able to be able to deliver water to the fire.

And then in our final locker, again, thinking of the different kind of incidents we go to, this is what we refer to as hazardous materials.

So sometimes in the community there may be a situation where a tanker has a spill or a chemical process goes wrong in a refinery, for example.

Certainly within the risk we have within the Humberside area, we have several refineries and other chemical facilities.

We need to be able to deal with people should they come into contamination with chemicals.

Here on the top shelf, we have something called a Disc Rd pack.

So if you've ever find yourself in a situation where fire service personnel needs to ask you to take your clothes off as a result of being contaminated with a chemical, we have the facilities to be able to give you some form of clothing at the incident.

We also have means of Environmental Protection, so being able to boom drains, stop the chemicals going down into the drains because obviously chemicals going into the environment can have a detrimental effect.

So we have to be aware of our actions against the environment also.

And also, as mentioned on the other side, we have another water rescue capability in this locker.

If you can picture the fire engine where the firefighters sit, some may descend off the near side, some may descend off the offside.

So we need to be able to get to our PPE easily.

When you join the Fire and Rescue service, you join as a firefighter.

Now we have different ranks in the fire service and they are based upon operational, tactical and strategic levels within our service.

So from an operational point of view, the highest rank that we ride on the fire engines in Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is a watch manager as denoted by the two pips on my epaulettes.

So when you first join, you are a fire fighter.

The next rank is called a crew manager in Humberside Fire and Rescue and then the top level of operational response is called a watch manager.

Now to be an officer who sits in this seat where I am now, he or she has to do something called a command course and is generally considered to be a junior officer at that point, point of being a crew manager or a watch manager.

We're then able to take charge of an incident.

So on the way to an incident, I have my little computer here.

This is referred to as an MDTA, mobile data terminal.

And I also have the ability to speak to our members in control, our team mates.

And this is via an airwave radio system here, which has a traditional kind of CB style microphone that enables me to speak to control risk information comes through to my computer.

So for example, if it's a fire, if it's an RTC, a road traffic collision or an incident that involves working at height, I'm able to be able to send basic information that comes through to the control team at that point.

For example, from the caller, which then shows up on my computer, which enables me to what we call in the fire service, enhance my situational awareness.

So another role of being a firefighter is being a driver.

When you first join the Fire and Rescue service, it's not generally an expectation that you'll be expected to be a driver.

This is something that as you progress through your career and pass what is effectively a licence AC type licence test will then enable you to be able to drive the lorry on blue lights in an emergency response situation.

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at the fire engine and thank you for your time.