Area Manager Denis O'Driscoll is pictured presenting the letter of congratulations to Watch Manager Paul Lillycrop and Amersham Retained Duty System crew.
17 December 2009
Firefighters from one of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Retained Duty System (RDS) stations have been acknowledged for improving on their performance target.
The crew from Amersham were presented with a Chief Fire Officer’s letter of congratulations by Area Manager Operational Response, Denis O’Driscoll, at the station on Tuesday.
Led by Watch Manager Paul Lillycrop, the 15 crew members have worked hard to achieve the most improved performance for pump availability between April 2007 and April 2009.
Denis explained: “In April 2007 the crew were achieving 61.3 per cent availability; by April 2009 they had managed to raise their level of pump availability to 79.7 per cent - we are anticipating the crew hitting 95 per cent availability during 2010. This is an exceptional achievement for the crew which has been achieved largely as a result of their dedication and enthusiasm.
“I would also like to express my sincerest congratulations to Paul, who as Watch Manager has helped to motivate his crew. Paul has been a member of our Amersham RDS crew for more than 40 years now and it’s his experience, knowledge, dedication and above all, his enthusiasm for the job, which shows through and has helped the team increase their availability.”
RDS crews are paid staff who do the same job as full-time firefighters but are not based in a fire station. Instead they are on standby, waiting to be called out from home or work
After receiving the letter of congratulations on behalf of his crew, Paul said: “Every member of our crew does this job because they enjoy being part of a team who work to help keep the community safe and are there when an accident in the home or on the roads impacts on them.
“We all recognise the important role the RDS firefighter can perform for the community, but without the support and understanding of all our family members and friends we would not be able to achieve what we do. Our family and friends hold things together, pick up the pieces and carry on as usual when we have to rush out in response to an emergency call.”
Amersham Station Manager, Tony Thompson, said: “I am very pleased that our RDS crew at Amersham is being recognised for the progress it has made over recent years to achieve the fantastic improvement in pump availability. The RDS crew is a very important part of the BFRS establishment and locally in the Amersham area. They train during evenings and weekends to ensure they are prepared for any emergency call they are alerted to.
“The benefit of RDS crews is that living or working in the area, they have local community awareness. Not all of our RDS units are meeting this target, primarily due to the vacancies we are currently experiencing at some of the stations, but this crew are so close we felt their contribution and improvement should be recognised.”
Like their full-time colleagues, RDS staff are trained and equipped to deal with a wide range of incidents and situations. These include fires, road traffic collisions and protecting the community through fire safety work.
Their on-call time can be a combination of daytime, evening and weekend hours. They are paid for being on call and called out, and are entitled to paid holidays, sick pay and membership of a pension scheme.
There are benefits for employers who release staff to be RDS firefighters too. The employee will be professionally trained to deal with emergencies, and an RDS firefighter on the staff could help save lives and property in the event of an emergency. Staff can also be trained for further qualifications such as health and safety and first aid, which could help the business as well.
To be an RDS firefighter you need to be at least 18 years old, physically fit and live and/or work close to the fire station. Just as important are qualities like common sense, commitment, enthusiasm and the ability to work as a member of a team.
If you would like to find out more about working as an RDS firefighter in Buckingham or another of our RDS stations, or if you are an employer interested in allowing your employees to participate, ring the information pack hotline on 01296 744670 or email rdsrecruitment@bucksfire.gov.uk