Avon fire crews oppose plans to work as paramedics

Firefighters have been driving ambulances and assisting during medical emergencies since the early stages of the pandemic

A union is opposing plans for firefighters to continue responding to medical emergencies.

Since the pandemic started Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AFRS) has been sending crews to give life-saving treatment if they arrive before paramedics.

Avon Fire Authority (AFA) will be asked to approve a plan including potentially expanding its crews' medical roles.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said members had not been consulted on the "half-baked scheme".

The three-year service plan will be proposed on 30 March.

AFRS plans to grow its current partnership with South Western Ambulance Service (SWAST) where fire crews can reach someone suffering a suspected cardiac arrest before paramedics and administer potentially life-saving treatment.

But FBU secretary Amanda Mills said firefighters would need proper training, provision of equipment, risk assessment procedures and sufficient government funding in place to ensure "costs of the additional work is not a burden on fire and rescue services which will detract from the ability to provide core services".

'Gamed the system'

She said the increased responsibility raised the "other important issue of payment", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Ms Mills said such schemes were likely to result in a "medical PR con and worsened core services delivered by the fire and rescue service".

She added that a major problem identified in previous trials elsewhere was that some ambulance services "gamed the system" by redirecting paramedics to other calls knowing fire crews were on hand for cardiac arrests and that this was to the detriment of patients and the fire services.

"Half-baked schemes that purposely don't involve the FBU will inevitably result in worse patient care, not better."

The FBU said members had not been consulted on the "half-baked scheme"

In response to concerns, AFRS said that staff would receive sufficient training to be able to use specialist equipment such as defibrillators.

"We are committed to implementing new ways of working to assist with medical emergencies to support our ambulance colleagues to keep the public as safe as possible, and to save and preserve endangered life in the widest sense."

It said it had "sufficient resources" to cover its service area.

The service added that its "dedicated" staff who drive ambulances had "no detrimental impact on our operational resilience and cover".