As with all the emergency services assisting those involved in the flooding across the country, we acknowledge the selfless actions and professionalism which has been so evident. Irrespective of whether the freak weather is the rule or remembered as the exception, lessons must be learned to ensure distress and despair is minimised if severe flooding continues to occur.

As a representative body we will shortly be involved in discussions with CLG and calling for an in-depth assessment of the lessons which can be learnt from this high demand on operational personnel as well identifying good practice.

From within our profession we wish to highlight in particular the community focused crews from within the Retained Duty System who have worked tirelessly to serve the communities which have been so badly affected over recent weeks.

Members of the public will be unaware of what duty system these crews are from and nor should they be, but we as an organisation must press home the importance of the ‘Retained’ firefighter across the country. A system that at present is at least 20% below establishment nationally has once again punched above its weight! The moral pressure on every crew member involved to make up the shortfall by working harder and longer than should be necessary must not go unnoticed.

The High Volume Pumps (part of the New Dimension unit) have been utilised to good effect being called in from across the country as far afield as Norfolk, some of these units are also crewed by Retained personnel such as the Hampshire HVP. There is a need for more resources to be situated and available within these areas of risk in order to meet increased public expectation of what is now a Fire and Rescue Service.

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