Increase in 999 calls to ‘people in crisis’ piles pressure on Shropshire’s fire service
The service based in Shrewsbury and its 999 colleagues are responding to an average of three to five calls to people in crisis every week
A ‘steady increase’ in 999 calls to help people in crisis is putting emotional and financial pressure on Shropshire’s fire and rescue service, says the county’s fire chief.
The service based in Shrewsbury and its 999 colleagues are responding to an average of three to five calls to people in crisis every week, says county fire chief Simon Hardiman.
“Twenty years ago they would happen on an infrequent basis but now we are seeing an increasing demand,” said Mr Hardiman.
Many of the calls involve people in water or at risk of entering the rivers and a number of those have been the same individuals in crisis more than once, he added.
“Our crews almost get to know some of the individuals,” said Mr Hardiman.
“Fire fighters are often the first on the scene which can be traumatic for them,” he added.
The service has policies for helping its staff cope with the stresses it places on them and individuals trained to help cope with trauma.
Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service has highly trained staff and equipment at Shrewsbury but Mr Hardiman revealed a huge gap in funding.
“In two years we have spend more than £100,000 on our water rescue capability,” said Mr Hardiman. “But we have only received £1,800 in funding for it which is not enough to buy a dry suit.”
Mr Hardiman says he has been lobbying on the issue for the last 18 months, including working with South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson.
“There is in fact no legal requirement for us to attend water incidents but we have a absolute moral and human requirement to do so,” he added.
“We would never not turn our crews out but the issue does need to be picked up nationally.”
The impact of what Mr Hardiman calls a “new type of trauma event for our staff” means that the service is even giving ‘negotiator-type’ training.
“We are turning up to people in crisis first,” he said, which means they are in a position to talk to individuals.
“We are asking whether we are preparing our staff in advance for what they might face,” said Mr Hardiman.
“Seeing someone in crisis either in the water or a risk of entering the water is a different type of trauma to witnessing the results of a fatal road collision or a fire,” he said.
Fire fighters are also working alongside other emergency services and volunteers at West Mercia Search and Rescue in responding to more vulnerable missing people, and helping ambulance crews gain entry to homes.
Mr Hardiman also revealed that the service has provided information to the team looking to secure funding for Shrewsbury’s night buses.
A trial of night buses was recently ended but Mr Hardiman said having the night buses pass hotspots for people in crisis, at bridges over the River Severn, could help provide more vital eyes and ears.
“Taking passengers from A to B is great but if it can also prevent an individual entering the water, that would be valuable.
“The more people who witness things and call 999 the better. It is about making the community more resilient,” said the fire chief.
“We are taking a whole society approach,” said Mr Hardiman.
“People may have seen our teams at The Wharfage in Ironbridge and wondered what was happening.
“We check the throw lines on the river bank and have been training staff from pubs at The Wharfage in using them.
“It is about helping people to be confident about using them and we find that they are happy to help.”