West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) is celebrating the hard work of those who answer when users call for help – as part of International Control Room Week.
The awareness campaign is running from Monday 23rd October for one week to highlight the amazing work of the staff in control rooms and to raise awareness of the crucial work they do.
Control Room
The Control Room is the first port of call for anyone who needs assistance from WYFRS. Its Fire Control team deals with hundreds of calls daily through the 999 lines, plus offers advice and assistance on other fire and rescue-related matters to members of the public.
Fire Control provides ongoing support and assistance with the continued management of all operational incidents, taking appropriate action to make West Yorkshire safer.
training and experience
They use training and experience to gather all the facts and make sure the correct resources are allocated
Often handlers must deal with stressful or upsetting calls as they try to obtain accurate information quickly from emergencies.
They use training and experience to gather all the facts and make sure the correct resources are allocated to an incident, sometimes while giving out life-saving survival guidance to callers.
Teamwork
Watch Manager - Julie Carter has worked in Control for 30 years and is supporting the week of action. She said, “Teamwork is the best part of our job – we work together on a huge variety of issues, all to bring the best possible service to the public we protect."
Julie Carter adds, “In my time here, I’ve dealt with dozens of memorable calls, the one that sticks out for me is when I had to give fire survival guidance to a family trapped in a fire, they had a four-week-old baby with them, and the advice I gave them allowed them all to be evacuated safely, I received a commendation for the call.”
mobilize resources
Although staff must deal with emergency calls as quickly as possible, it is of equal focus to ask the right questions
Fire Control deals with approximately 100,000 emergency calls a year and mobilizes to over 25,000 incidents. WYFRS has amongst the top five largest Fire Control Rooms in England, working in partnership with colleagues at a regional and national level.
Although staff must deal with emergency calls as quickly as possible, it is of equal focus to ask the right questions and gain the most information possible from callers, to mobilize the appropriate resources.
training strategy
WYFRS's training strategy is meticulously comprehensive to ensure our staff are trained, qualified, and ready for all possible eventualities.
The staff work to the Fire Control Fire Standard, and have National Operational Guidance for Fire Control, along with National Occupational Standards and a Skills for Justice accredited pathway to competence.