This international Control Room Week (21st- 27th October) Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is celebrating its people in control and and seeking new recruits to join the team, answering 999 calls and being that first point of contact for people in an emergency.
Fire Control team deals with around 100 999 calls a day and International Control Room Week gives a chance to celebrate the extraordinary achievements and professionalism of the Control Firefighters.
The Control Room is start of the frontline and plays a vital role in dealing with incidents – determining the scale of response and mobilising the most appropriate vehicles/equipment to tackle fires, animal rescues, chemical spills, road traffic collisions and more.
Although it is imperative that the teams deal with emergency calls as quickly as possible, it is of equal importance to ask the right questions and gain the most information possible from callers. This is so they can deploy the right resources and liaise with partners such as police, ambulance, coastguard, utilities where needed. Often, they co-ordinate all this while remaining on the phone, to sometimes traumatised people, as a voice of reassurance until firefighters arrive.
Phil Barrett, Assistant Director Operational Support, said
“Control is the heart of the Service, making sure our crews and resources are deployed to the right place at the right time and providing vital communication and support throughout incidents.
“We are so grateful for the hard work, commitment and dedication of every one of our personnel in the control room – the volume of calls they resolve every day is testament to the professionalism, resilience, flexibility and efficiency of the team.”
The ideal Firefighter (Control) will have the following skillset:
- Attentive to detail with the ability to receive and record information accurately
- An excellent communicator with the ability to listen, reassure and explain situations clearly
- Have excellent keyboard skills
- Will possess emotional resilience and awareness
- The capacity to use initiative as part of a team and independently
- A good knowledge of the geography of Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Control is based at HIWFRS Headquarters in Eastleigh and offers free parking and an on- site restaurant. Control is crewed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year so you must be able to work days, nights and weekends. Full training is provided. Recruitment is for a permanent contract.
Already know the job is for you? Apply now https://bit.ly/joincontrol. Closing date is 18th November.
International Control Room week? Is that really a thing, not just something IE made up? Is it staffed by International Rescue?
The job description includes a requirement that an applicant should have:-
“A good knowledge of the geography of Hampshire & Isle of Wight”
So how do they hope to recruit staff from here on the IW when the job is based at HIWFRS Headquarters in Eastleigh ?
More importantly, what about delays that are inevitable for call outs to fires on the IW due to having to explain the location?