howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
a spot survey carried out at 10 a.m. today showed that 39 out of kent's 88 fire engines would have not been able to respond to an emergency.
30 had an insufficient crew, 6 were off the run, whatever that means and three were defective.
of the remaining ones 24 were likely to have a delayed response in an emergency.
there appears to be a recruitment problem, every engine that goes out has to have a crew of four.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
A recruitment problem?
A manning problem maybe. What with the redundancies in the armed services there can hardly be a shortage available manpower.
Who did the spot check? These sorts of things seem often to be designed to show few if any faults.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
I wonder if this survey included the retained fire stations who would have to be called from work or home to take the engines out.
The figures could be misleading as it depends who was conducting the survey and what questions were asked.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
has been announced today that st margarets fire station is one of eight being closed in kent.
there has been a drop of 25% in fires and related incidents since 2005.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
Heaven help St Margarets if a serious fire breaks out there when the roads are icy or blocked.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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I have a good friend who is a fireman that has said cuts will cost lives in the long run, and how often firemen have to cover duties elsewhere due to not enough firemen to cover some shifts all very worrying
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
we are all in it together cut backs are to blame.plus the lack of funding.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
in a way we are to blame by installing smoke alarms, not smoking in bed and resisting the urge to cook chips on return from an 8 pint extravaganza at our local wetherspoons.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
only 8 pints howard.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
this is a very emotive subject
in reality fire fighters spend 10% of there time actual fighting, and as howard says more is being done to prevent fires before they start.
so its always a question then, do you pay fire people to sit around waiting for a fire to happen?
it's an interesting debate which will probably run and run as i'ts a very emotive subject
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
as with paramedics we cannot have too many firefighters.
Guest 715- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 2,438
Emergency services cannot be judged on the same basis as industry, when you need them they have to be there for you surely we have advanced enough to understand that! Tell a family that have loved lost ones in a fire that yes they could have been saved but it was not economically viable to do so. I suppose that the bean counters will say there is a acceptable level of deaths compared to the savings!
Audere est facere.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
The Emergency Services especially the Kent Fire & Rescue should never have to suffer from cuts, I would think that one of the reasons for the drop in incidents is due to not only smoke alarms etc but safety awareness campaigns run both nationally and locally.
One of the problems with recruitment might be because of the health standards. My son could not get in because of having had a couple of very mild asthma attacks and of course more and more youngsters are being diagnosed with this which I suppose goes on their health records as young adults.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
r
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
well,well some interesting thoughts there
any more'/??
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
rather worryingly the doomed st margarets station has responded to 2 emergeny calls in the past week.
Guest 717- Registered: 16 Jun 2011
- Posts: 468
Keith; your earlier post seems to miss out a crutial element which the rest of the thread also has. They are the Kent Fire and RESCUE Service. So whilst 10% of their time may be waiting for a fire, how much is being spent out and about cutting someone from a vehicle or saving someone trapped in a confined space?
KFRS had and has a big campaign of helping people install smoke alarms. This has probably reduced their work with fires but they are now being penalised for helping make our lives better.
In this case they have to have the numbers to respond to the 'what if?'. But I do agree with the tough recruitment, fire fighting an rescue is not as straight forward as it used to be. You have to understand modern breathing equipment and various apparatus not just for fighting fires.
Cuts effect us all, but in KFRS's case let's hope it's not at the cost of someone's life
Keeps politics to myself
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
It may not cost a life but it is almost certain to affect the quality of life if the person is trapped for longer than before the cuts were instigated.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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