The Daily Echo 14 February 2008

Written by Sandra Gidley MP on Thu 14th Feb 2008

Over the past few weeks I have spent time with many of the people who provide our emergency services. Walking the beat with the police and accompanying an ambulance crew have enabled me to witness their work at very close quarters and has also given me an opportunity to have candid conversations with people who do the everyday work. The insight they provide is not always the same as the "official" line that is received when talking to more senior people within the organisation. I have also recently met with local retained fire fighters and watched them going through practice drills.

Over the years all of the jobs appear to have become more technical but ultimately, what always strikes me about our emergency services is that, for much of the job, people skills are extremely important. To the professionals they are dealing with the day job but to people who come into contact with them as a result of misfortune - whether trapped in a car, a victim of crime or very ill - reassurance is of prime importance.

Most people I have met have been very enthusiastic about their jobs but the subject of pay often arises and it is clear that there can be an issue about feeling undervalued. The retained fire fighters are particularly interesting because employers are not always happy to release them and, at a time when the job is becoming increasingly technical, there are considerable demands on an individual's time. People stay because they love the job but I do feel it is time to review the employer's role in this so that they also receive some "carrot" for allowing fire fighters the flexibility to do the job. This is, ultimately, a public protection matter.

We are lucky to have such professional and caring people in these roles but I want to finish by getting something off my chest. The day with the ambulance involved a certain amount of blue light driving and I was really quite shocked by how little notice some members of the public took of an ambulance with a flashing blue light. One driver even pulled out to overtake in front of a vehicle with flashing lights and sirens blaring. I only hope that if the driver suffers an accident the attending ambulance is not held up in similar fashion. I was told that the public are equally oblivious of big red fire engines. The vehicles that did notice reacted in a number of ways and some people panicked into manoeuvres that were not entirely safe. It struck me that it is about time that someone developed a clear protocol about what drivers should do in such circumstances and that not adhering to it should be an offence.

Published with kind permission of The Daily Echo