Role of a Retained Duty System Firefighter

Retained Duty System Firefighters are a group of men and women who do ordinary jobs, but are ready to respond to an emergency incident the moment their alerter goes off.

They come from all walks of life, builders, housewives, shopkeepers, farmers or plumbers, typists or technicians, provided they can respond from home or, with their employers permission and co-operation, from their place of work.

Retained Duty System Firefighters are part of a dedicated team ready to face any emergency.

They may not be employed as Wholetime Firefighters (people whose prime employment is for the fire service) but they are trained and developed to the same standard as wholetime Firefighters so that they can; save lives, rescue people from road traffic collisions and undertake community safety work to make a real difference within their local communities.

Often there are certain times when the Service has a shortage of people to fill positions at specific times, particularly as fewer people live and work in local towns and villages. You may be or you may know just the person to fulfil our need.

• You need to live or work within five minutes (driving at normal road speed) of a Retained Duty System Fire Station.
• Secondly you have to be flexible in your work because no-one can predict when you’ll be called out. Each Firefighter carries an ‘alerter’ so that they can respond when required. There is a retaining fee based on their availability and a payment for responding and turning out to incidents. There is a particular requirement for people who are available during weekday working hours (9am – 5pm).

Employers

What Benefits Can a Retained Duty System Firefighter Offer Your Business?

• Someone professionally trained to fight fires is an investment in safety at little cost to you.
• They learn to take responsibility for highly technical and expensive Fire Service equipment. They work as part of a team to communicate fast and accurately, to take decisions under stress, to follow instructions and to be reliable. Are these the sort of qualities you are looking for?
• Having a Firefighter on your staff makes good business sense, why, because throughout their career with the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, they will acquire skills such as first aid at work, trauma care, leadership, LGV driver, an awareness of equal opportunities, harassment and bullying legislation, fire safety, manual handling, IT training, breathing apparatus procedures, working at heights, etc.

The Commitment of Being a Retained Duty System Firefighter

• They must be flexible in providing cover determined by a choice of three contract bands: 70–99 hours per week, 100–119 hours per week and 120 hours plus per week. This is not as restrictive as it appears as they can book off duty at varying times and do not have to attend every incident, just a percentage.
• They are required to attend 15 days of training, some of which is over a weekend.
• This gives them the basis of firefighting, rescue techniques, first aid and many other skills needed by the modern day Firefighter.
• After completion of the initial Phase 1 training they are issued with an alerter and are classed as being ‘on the run’ and can respond to emergencies in their community.

Retained Duty System Station Locations

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service have 22 Retained Duty System Fire Stations at the following locations:

• Beverley
• Brough
• Market Weighton
• Pocklington
• Bridlington
• Driffield
• Sledmere
• Hornsea
• Withernsea
• Preston
• Patrington
• Cleethorpes
• Waltham
• Barton on Humber
• Scunthorpe
• Snaith
• Crowle
• Epworth
• Kirton in Lindsey
• Winterton
• Howden
• Brigg

Personal Qualities and Attributes

There are certain personal qualities and attributes (PQA’s) that you will need to help you fulfil your role as a Firefighter. They are:

• Being open to change
• Able to work with other people from a variety of ages and backgrounds
• Good at building and developing working relationships
• Be supportive and a team member
• Committed to improving skills and learning new things
• Can stay calm and confident in difficult or stressful situations
• Able to work alone and follow instructions and guidelines.
• Effective at communicating

The role of a Firefighter is ever changing. Although responding to emergencies is what we are known for, the reality is that we spend a lot of time doing other things. Which include community safety, training and development and station routines.

Community Fire Safety

• To prevent fire and accidents from starting in the first place.
• Educating the community by visiting schools, community centres, people in their own homes, wherever a safety message can be delivered.
• Having local knowledge of the area, such as streets, roads and buildings.
• Advising people about planning escape routes within their own homes in case of a fire.
• Actively seeking to understand and to value diverse individuals and groups.

Training and Development

• To undertake a continuous training programme by attending lectures, exercises, practical training sessions and other forms of training to maintain competence levels.
• Take responsibility for developing your own skills.
• Ensuring your fitness levels are maintained as the work can be demanding both physically and mentally.

Responding to Emergencies

• To respond immediately and safely to all emergency calls.
• Minimise distress and suffering, including giving first aid and trauma care.
• Dealing with many kinds of emergencies, including pumping out flooded premises, chemical spills, providing casualty care and extraction at road traffic collisions and rescuing people who are trapped in buildings or lifts.

Station Routines

• You will need to maintain, clean and test fire service equipment ensuring its readiness for use, using approved procedures in accordance with current Health and Safety practice.
• Each item of equipment to be maintained and updated using standard test records.
• Access and record information whether written or using basic computer skills.