Fears over part-time firefighters’ water rescue training

FIREFIGHTERS are dealing with record numbers of water-related rescues, a major conference was told yesterday.

However, members of the country’s retained fire service, who also deal with these situations, do not get the same level of training in swift water rescue techniques as their full-time brigade counterparts.

The news emerged during the first day of the Institution of Fire Engineers’ (IFE) annual general meeting.

Fire experts from all over the world are in Cork for the two-day conference.

Delegates were told that Cork’s City Fire Brigade had the highest attendance of all brigades at water-related incidents in 2001.

It prompted the development of one of the country’s best training and equipment procurement programmes to ensure firefighters attending such incidents are properly qualified and equipped.

Major investment in specialist dry suits, flotation devices, and rescue lines followed. The brigade is now investing in new rescue boats.

Each new fire brigade recruit now has to qualify as a swift water rescue technician within his or her six-month probation period. Cork’s swift water rescue unit remains one of the country’s busiest, dealing with between 70 and 80 rescues every year.

However, retired senior fire officer Denis Mulcahy, president of the IFE’s Irish branch, said part-time fire fighters do not get the same level of training.

“These guys are just as full-time and just as dedicated as full-time firefighters,” he said. “The last option is to commit someone to the water. But when you do it, that person must be trained and equipped.

“However, the retained fire service has the minimum amount of training in this area.”

He said the Cork swift water rescue unit is now involved in training other brigades around the country in the techniques it has developed and perfected.

The IFE conference continues today with an address by Richard Hedderman, an expert in Dublin Fire Brigade’s special projects section. He will deliver a paper on emergency planning for the Dublin Port Tunnel post-construction.

IFE international president Charles Chu, the recently retired chief fire officer of the Hong Kong Fire Service, will also outline the challenges facing brigades dealing with emergencies in high rise buildings.

The conference also features a comprehensive exhibition on fire and safety equipment which is open to the public.