Lincolnshire firefighters volunteer to boost ranks of ambulance crews under pressure from coronavirus crisis

Lincolnshire firefighters have volunteered to boost ranks of East Midlands Ambulance Service during the pandemic.

Between 10 to 12 fire service colleagues have been requested from each of the six fire services in the region – Humberside, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, as well as control room staff and members of their logistics teams, to join East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and carry out tasks such as driving Urgent Care vehicles and the safe moving of patients.

If the need arises in the coming weeks, fire service personnel will work alongside EMAS Urgent Care colleagues and will carry out support tasks.

Lincolnshire's Chief Fire Officer, Les Britzman, said: "Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue already work closely with partners to help in communities, with many firefighters carrying out extended duties, assisting EMAS at a range of medical emergencies.

Ambulance crews already share facilities with firefighting colleagues at Sleaford's joint fire and ambulance station.

"Our firefighters are dedicated to their communities, and have taken this stance for 20 years, to save lives and protect residents. We are currently working with partners, staff and representative bodies to consider how our teams can further support our communities during this emergency and we thank the public for their support."

A two-day EMAS familiarisation training course has been created, and firefighters will be taught in small groups of six to allow for social distancing to be observed.

The training will take place this week and next week in Mansfield, and at EMAS education and development centres in Northampton, Lincoln and Leicester.

Fire Service personnel are already supporting colleagues in Yorkshire Ambulance Service and London Ambulance Service.

EMAS Chief Executive Richard Henderson said: “We have always worked closely with our fire and rescue service colleagues at the many multi-agency incidents we attend, and in recent years this relationship has become even stronger thanks to blue light collaboration at some of our stations, for example South Park in Lincoln.

“In addition to such collaboration, we already work closely with fire co-responder schemes across the region and have done for many years.

“During these unprecedented times, we are more grateful than ever for the support of our blue light colleagues for offering to step in to support our staff and our patients.

“Having these robust plans for support from our fire service colleagues will help to ensure that our EMAS clinicians can continue to provide care to our patients who need us most.”