Retained firefighter

Last updated June 16, 2023

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time on call to respond to emergencies through the Retained Duty System.^[1]^[2] Many have full-time jobs outside of the fire service. Retained firefighters are employed and trained by the local fire and rescue service.

When required to answer an emergency call, retained firefighters are summoned to the fire station by a radio pager (also known as an "alerter"). Once at the station, the crews staff the fire engine and proceed to the incident. Retained firefighters are therefore required to live or work near to the fire station they serve. This allows them to respond to emergencies within acceptable and strict attendance time targets set out by each fire service.

Typically, retained firefighters are employed in rural areas or in large villages, small towns or run a second or third appliance at full time stations as a backup crew. They provide cover to 90% of the area of the UK - there are 14,000 in England and Wales.^[1] Of the approximately 8,500 operational firefighters in Scotland, about 32% are retained.^[3] London Fire Brigade, West Midlands Fire Service and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service are the only fire and rescue services in the UK that do not have any retained firefighters.^[4]

Unlike volunteer firefighters, retained firefighters are paid for attending incidents. Both volunteers and retained are paid an annual "retainer fee" for being on call, but only retained firefighters receive further pay for each emergency call they respond to. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the Retained Firefighters' Union (RFU) represent the interests of retained firefighters across the UK. In Ireland, they are represented by the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU).

Emergency response

Wholetime firefighters do not usually respond to emergencies during the time when they are off duty, unless there are under dual contract arrangements. Generally, wholetime^[5] or full-time firefighters do not respond to calls when they are off-duty as they are assigned to a watch on permanent shifts. However, most retained firefighters can only provide cover at set times due to their full-time employment commitments. For example, it may be that some personnel can provide cover during the day in any given week or only evenings and weekends per week. Often it is a mixture of both.

In Ireland, some on-call firefighters were summoned by means of an air raid-type siren mounted on the local fire station. Now they are all on a pager system, either controlled locally in the case of Cork and Dublin, or by a regional control centre (CAMP) in the rest of the country.

Unlike many volunteer firefighters in the United States, retained firefighters are not permitted to use emergency lights or sirens on their personal vehicles. When they drive to the fire station, they must obey normal road traffic laws at all times whilst en route. The British government reviewed the situation in 2008, but decided that to give every retained firefighter a blue light would effectively "dilute" the importance of blue lights. Most importantly, use of blue lights by retained staff may cause confusion for local road users, particularly where multiple vehicles would be responding to a particular fire station from several directions at once.

Role within the community

In the UK, retained firefighters are responsible for undertaking community fire safety work alongside their full-time colleagues. This involves talks to local school children, home safety checks, and fitting of free smoke detectors in homes.

Some RDS fire stations receive hundreds of call-outs per year, comparable or sometimes greater than some full-time fire stations.^{[ citation needed ]} Other RDS stations receive a relatively small number of call-outs. Some fire and rescue services employ a system known as "day manning" or "day staffing", where the fire station is operated by a full-time watch during the day and covered by retained firefighters at night.

Training and competency

Whole-time firefighters attend training school for an initial period of 13–20 weeks, depending on the fire and rescue service they have joined. On-call firefighters now undertake the same training modules as full-time recruits, spread over a greater period of time due to full-time employment job commitments. The new National Firefighter Training Syllabus is now widely-adopted and consists of a three-week "core skills" module, a two-week breathing apparatus module, a one-week HAZMAT module, a one-week road traffic collision module, plus several weekend trauma care/EMT and first aid courses. On completion of this, firefighters then enter an on station development stage over a three-year period, once they have completed their development stage they then become competent and receive a higher level of pay. The modules are also backed up by ongoing training on station in multi-disciplined roles, procedures and equipment. However, many fire services do not allow retained firefighters to transfer directly to wholetime firefighter without completing a full 13-week new recruits course.

In December 2003, recognising the need for a review of the retained duty system, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the department responsible for fire and resilience at that time, called for a report. Published in February 2005, it noted:

The system of flexible local fire cover needs to attract a new pool of applicants who would not have considered the opportunity previously. The recruitment problems stem in part from the level of pay, the lack of a pension, the lack of development opportunities and the often inflexible availability system.'^[6]

Other duties

As well as responding to emergency calls and undertaking community fire safety initiatives, retained firefighters attend weekly training nights (aka "drill nights") of two to three hours per week to maintain competency levels. They must also undertake routine checks on their equipment and fire appliance, as well as test, clean and maintain the equipment to ensure it will work properly when required during an emergency. To allow retained firefighters to boost their earnings, some retained stations are involved in co-responder schemes, whereby fire crews act as first responders providing first aid prior to the attendance of paramedics.

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A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond to emergency calls for long periods of time, and are summoned to the fire station when their services are needed. They are also expected to attend other non-emergency duties as well.

The Surrey Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the County of Surrey, England, with 25 fire stations. It comes under the administrative and legislative control of Surrey County Council, acting as the Fire Authority who fund the service by collecting a precept via council tax, and from central government funds, known as a grant settlement, and provide the political leadership for the service.

The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire in South West England.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, consisting of the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Devon and the unitary authorities of Plymouth, Torbay) and Somerset in South West England – an area of 3,924 square miles (10,160 km²). It serves a population of 1.75 million, and is the fifth largest fire and rescue service in the United Kingdom.

The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 22 people who are appointed annually from the five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire, known as the Fire and Rescue Authority.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of 1,338 square miles (3,470 km²) and a population of over 1.7 million people.

The Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, England. The service is run by Gloucestershire County Council. The service does not cover the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire which is covered by Avon Fire and Rescue Service.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the administrative county of Kent and the unitary authority area of Medway, covering a geographical area south of London, to the coast and including major shipping routes via the Thames and Medway rivers. The total coastline covered is 225 km ; it has 55 fire stations, and four district fire safety offices. The FRS provides emergency cover to a population of nearly 2 million.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hampshire, including the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, and the county of the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England. The service was formed on 1 April 2021 from the merger of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service. The service's chief fire officer is Neil Odin.

The Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the West Midlands region of England. The service covers an area of 1,514 square miles (3,920 km²), and a population of around 780,000 people.

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham in the north of Wales. With service coverage in north-west Wales being predominantly rural. The NWFRS is headquartered in St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hertfordshire, England. HFRS covers an area of 1,514 square miles (3,920 km²) and a population of 1.19 million.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Cornwall, England. As of April 2019, the service employs over 400 retained firefighters, 203 full-time firefighters, plus 170 support and administrative staff. Created under the Fire Services Act 1947 as "Cornwall Fire Brigade", the name changed to "Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service" on 1 October 2009.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands Region of England. This does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which are covered by Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the county of Staffordshire and unitary authority of Stoke-on-Trent. The county has a population of 1,126,200 and covers a total area of 2,260 km². Staffordshire shares the majority of its border with Derbyshire, Cheshire, West Midlands (County) and Shropshire; although, in much shorter stretches, the county also butts up against Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, England. It was formed in 1948 as the Suffolk & Ipswich Fire Service, before changing after the 1974 Local Government Review to 'Suffolk Fire Service'. Following the 2004 Fire & Rescue Services Act, the service name was changed to Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service to better reflect its role. Suffolk has a population of 760,556 and covers 1,466 square miles (3,800 km²). The county town is Ipswich with other major towns including Lowestoft, Bury St-Edmunds, Felixstowe and Newmarket.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the United Kingdom, surpassing the London Fire Brigade.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is a statutory emergency fire and rescue service covering the local authority areas of Wiltshire, Swindon, Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England.

References

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[rds-1] 1 2 "Department for Communities and Local Government: Fire & Resilience - Retained Duty System (accessed 23 April 07)".

[rep-2] "ODPM: The Fire and Rescue service Retained Duty System - A review of recruitment and retention challenges, pub TSO, Feb 2005 (see p28 Terminology)" (PDF).

[3] "Scottish Executive: Retained firefighterd in the Scottish fire service (accessed 23 Apr 07)".

[4] "Department for Communities and Local Government: Fire & Resilience - Retained Duty System p56, sec 5.22(accessed 23 April 07)".

[rep2-5] "ODPM: The Fire & Rescue Service Retained Duty System - A review of recruitment and retention challenges, pub TSO, Feb 2005 (see Part 1 Terminology)" (PDF).

[rep3-6] "ODPM: The Fire & Rescue Service Retained Duty System - A review of recruitment and retention challenges, pub TSO, Feb 2005 (see Introduction)" (PDF).

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