THE DAILY TELEGRAPHTHURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009EMERGENCY SERVICES CAREERS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR| IIICool heads for a hot situation Firefighters face intense challenges in work that calls for bravery and commitment, writes Adam RamsayPolicing the mountains TPAUL BURKEBeing at the nerve centre of life-saving rescue missions on icy peaks — defying fearsome winds and temperatures — is all in a day’s work for police in Cumbria, as Adam Ramsay discovers “When the 999 call comes in it goes direct to the control room where we will assess what area the incident is in, and which of the 12 local mountain rescue (MR) teams needs to be activated. We will then page the teams and they will get in contact with the control room for information. We will do an initial response around the roads in the area, checking the pubs, tracking mobile phones and sweeping the car parks to discern where else people might be. Once the operation is under way, the primary search on the ground will be managed by the MR team leader, who will liaise with our control room. If necessary we will co-ordinate with the RAF or Navy or the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at Kinross to request a helicopter or air ambulance to attend the incident.” And it’s vital that the police operations unit makes sure that suitable resources are at the Mountain Rescue team’s disposal, especially when the weather deteriorates and night starts to fall. “The main challenge is that you can be out for six to seven hours,” says Nick Owen, leader of the Langdale and Ambleside team. “You might be soaked through, with near-hurricane winds and temperatures down to between minus 10 and 15 at times. You can be called out at night and in all weathers. It’s a massive physical challenge.” Burke, while a full-time police constable, is also a volunteer with the Langdale and Ambleside team and gets out on mountain rescue missions around 30 times a year. “Before joining the police, I worked for the National Trust, the National Parks and the Forestry Commission — a lot of outdoor stuff,” explains Burke. “I became a special constable — a volunteer police officer basically — and found it so enjoyable that I joined the regulars. “Definitely part of the appeal of working here is that I still get to do emergency rescue work, helping save people’s lives in the great outdoors.”Even though the traditional macho image of fire-fighting has been replaced by one of a profession open to all who can stand the heat, it is still a career that demands bravery and commitment. “I entered the fire brigade just over four years ago,” says Richard Reid, a firefighter with the London Fire Brigade. “My squad has a wide variety of people: young, old, black, white, male and female. It’s a job for all types, as long as you have the right abilities.” Reid took an unlikely route into the sector, doing a degree in sound design at the London Institute, after which he spent time as a volunteer mentor working with children, while working as a sound engineer. “I wanted something more stable,” adds Reid, “and so when I saw an advert I decided to apply. It’s satisfying to know that you are part of a worldclass fire-fighting organisation and you are providing a vital service to your community.” On a day-to-day basis, firefighters can find themselves facing immense challenges, from rescuing people trapped in lift shafts or buried under collapsed buildings to tackling fierce blazes. Fire prevention is also at the crux of the fire brigade’s community education and youth work initiatives. But when the mobilising alarm goes off, there’s no time for losing your head. “We aim to beon the site within three to five minutes,” says Reid. “When there’s an emergency it could be anything. You always have to be dynamically analysing an incident and, because the environment in which you’re working is constantly changing, you have to be adaptable.” All this takes skill. “I think the key is the training,” says Dany Cotton, Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the London Fire Brigade (and the most senior woman firefighter in the UK), “along with up-to-date technology and equipment. So when we get to a fire we know we have the best people, the best training and the best equipment to deal with it.” This year the London Fire Brigade is looking for 250 new trainee firefighters. The tuition lasts for 17 weeks at the Southwark Training Centre, two weeks of which is spent in residence at the Fire Service College, Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Gloucestershire, where trainees fight real, albeit controlled, fires. The course is fully paid, with trainees receiving firefighter development pay of £26,000 per year. “As for career opportunities, you can stay a firefighter for 30 years if you want to,” adds Cotton. “You can climb through the ranks to become a senior officer, or you can branch off on different specialist paths within the brigade, such as fire investigation, training or specialist rescue units.”he Cumbrian Constabulary polices one of the busiest areas of the UK for mountain rescues, where force teams face the challenges of saving lives on vertical peaks, in all weathers, night and day. “We deal with around 200-300 emergency calls a year for mountain search and rescue,” says policeman Paul Burke, who has been with the constabulary for 13 years. Based in Ambleside in the central fells, with peaks up to 3,500 feet, fast flowing rivers and a huge number of tourists, the force plays a central coordinating role in a large number of rescue missions. In February alone the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue team — with whom Burke works closely — dealt with 15 emergency callouts, two fatalities and two serious injuries.‘I became a special constable and found it so enjoyable that I joined the regulars’Decisions in a heartbeat A paramedic can be the difference between survival and deathAcalm head is essential for a paramedic. Trained to deal with emergencies on the front line, the job is all about saving people’s lives when time is running out. “Once we’ve left the station at the beginning of our shift we’ll be out all day,” says Stuart Short, pictured, who joined the London Ambulance Service in 1971. “If you’re in the car on your own you’ll be dealing with at least eight call-outs a day. You aim to be on site within three to five minutesfor a rapid initial response. You might find a situation where you have to save someone’s life, or you may just need to keep someone calm until the ambulance arrives. “In the ambulance you are with a crew and have to get the patient to hospital in eight minutes for a Category A emergency [the grading for life-threatening incidents]. You are with the patient a lot longer so you don’t just treat and leave — the patient’s condition can change until you reach hospital.”Short adds: “You have to be able to work under pressure and respond to whatever turns up. You have to be able to deal with anything. As a paramedic, often working under pressure with tight time constraints, you really have to know all about injuries and illnesses.” The London service provides a three-year paid training course, which includes a year-long placement learning in the field. “We have about 200 people training at the moment,” saysJacqui Lindridge, training officer with the London service. “We get a wide range of trainees, including some with degrees and others who want to change careers from banking, business and nursing, for example. We even have a paediatrician.” Career development for paramedics can lead to teaching and training, management roles, emergency planning or extra tuition to join the specialist chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear teams. ADAM RAMSAY
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPHTHURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009EMERGENCY SERVICES CAREERS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR| IIICool heads for a hot situation Firefighters face intense challenges in work that calls for bravery and commitment, writes Adam RamsayPolicing the mountains TPAUL BURKEBeing at the nerve centre of life-savi
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