The four riders recommendation has recently been agreed by SMT and following up our extensive campaign and representations to the efficient and flexible crewing project which is the home of four riders we are pleased to see the reflections of our feedback were well considered. We can't claim outright success that Retained should always ride with as many crew as possible (up to six), but at the same time we need to recognize why four riders was introduced and the fact that the differentiation between Whole Time and Retained is levelling out.
The caveat to the decision is that before it is finally signed off two significant of factors will need to feed in to support it:
- Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service is awaiting the final publication of Technical Bulletin 1/97 which has been commissioned by the government to look into the resource requirement for BA wearing. This technical bulletin may in fact recommend that five is the minimum required number of crew attending an incident where BA needs to be worn. The RFU has a representative on this Technical Review Team and we will ask them for feedback. [due for completion in October / November 2009]
- In addition the regionalisation of Hampshire with other counties is producing a number of documents which identify exact resource requirements at (currently) over 96 identified incident types. On the completion of this project the number of incidents and their types need to be considered to identify the best possible divisive factor to make incident attendance efficient. For example if the majority of incidents we attend require a crew of five then it would not be efficient to make the HFRS riding factor four thus meaning three rather than two pumps need to attend most incidents.[due for completion in May 2010]
In addition the consideration of extraction rate will be consideredwhich covers annual leave, temporary promotions training and sickness.
This obviously is more of a WDS consideration.
In a nutshell what the recommendations now advise specifically for RDS is that if the station is attending a critical incident which may be identified as:- RTC
- Car Fire
- Property Fire
- Hazmat
Then the maximum resources may well be required and if all six riders are available and if it does not delay the turnout at the pump can ride.
However if the incident is noncritical then we reflect the whole time requirement and ride with just four.
We have asked that the Risk Log records that this decision may demoralise Retained Fire Crews. For example:
- If you have made a great deal of effort to ensure that you are one of six riders available for a one pump retained station and the shout comes in it will be incredibly frustrating to sit back and watch two empty seats leaving the station.
- In addition the opportunity to gain experience at incidents will be reduced. With this decision given the green light you will now attend nearly a third less of incidents.
These two factors may well mean that some Retained Firefighters may no longer wish to give their services to Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and this will obviously have resource and financial implications to the service. We have been assured that these issues are recognized and that systems will be in place to monitor them.
And in the future?
This is not a decision which will last a lifetime indeed it will be reviewed in June 2010. We are as yet unsure whether this is a half step to Retained fully reflecting their Whole time colleagues and always riding with four or if the experiences gained over the next few years will support the above exemptions for RDS. However, we are happy with the process of consultation which was undertaken and feel that our arguments were not only recognised but acted upon. Come future decisions we look forward to representing your opinions.
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