| The majority of UK's fire and rescue services use managed PPE service centres |
A substantial increase in the level of demand for managed care services from across the emergency services for personal protective equipment (PPE) is behind Bristol's decision to open a new service centre in the South East to effectively double the level of care contracts the company can service and which is ideally located to supplement the service currently available in the South West.
The concept of outsourcing the regular washing, decontamination, repair and condition coding of protective clothing and other PPE has gained in popularity over the past decade with the majority of the UK's fire & rescue services now using managed care on a regular basis. Other emergency services have also now started to recognise the cost effectiveness and personnel safety benefits which this service can provide and the police, ambulance service and Highways Agency have all started to adopt PPE manufacturer provided care packages.
Bristol's new service centre will also provide London Fire Brigade with PPE accessories |
For Bristol, the decision was based on the need to expand provision and maintain resilience. The new centre, located in Rainham, Essex, is strategically placed to accommodate the needs of London Fire Brigade whose PPE contract for the supply and maintenance of new PPE becomes operational in April 2010. The new facility covers 15,000 ft2 and will employ 15 people providing care services around the clock.
Service Centre Manager, Alan Keeler, a logistics expert, said at the opening of the new facility: "With a major increase in demand for our services over the coming year, including the LFB contract requiring the regular servicing of some 70,000 items, this new centre will provide both the capacity and resilience we need to manage existing customer needs. It also gives us the capacity to handle further work as this comes on stream during the year. With two service centres now available, work will be handled wherever this provides the most efficient service for customers. It will also give us the flexibility to undertake work during special emergencies such as flooding or major accidents where turn round time can be critical in ensuring firefighters, in particular, as well as police or the ambulance Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) have access to decontaminated and repaired PPE at short notice."