On Call Firefighters book themselves available to respond to an incident in and around their primary employment and lifestyle. This means they can work for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service whilst undertaking their primary job.
Strict rules on how close On Call Firefighters must live or work to Fire Stations compared with lifestyle changes have seen national struggles for recruitment.
To maintain fire cover across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove, we require a set minimum number of our On Call Fire Stations to be available at any given time. We have a flexible resource pool, where support officers can be called upon to cover crewing shortfalls. We also utilise fire appliances from areas with sufficient fire cover and move them into areas to cover gaps when other fire appliances are not available. We will always send the nearest available appliance, which means the appliance attending the incident may not always be from your local station.
At East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (ESFRS) we have recently undertaken an internal On Call Sustainability Survey and attended the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) On Call Strategic Forum in Lancashire to discuss and share good practice with other fire and rescue services.
What has become clear is that each service has its own individual challenges with On Call availability. Unfortunately, there is not one model which would solve all the issues that we are facing.
Nationally, services are struggling to recruit and retain On Call Firefighters. The changes in society, people travelling further to work, house prices, general cost of living and busy lifestyles have all had an impact. In addition, we have seen several of our On Call Firefighters join other Fire & Rescue Services through wholetime recruitment. All these factors have contributed to a drop in our establishment numbers.
Assistant Director for Safer Communities Matt Lloyd said, “The On Call service is vital to us in delivering both Prevention and Response activities. We are working hard with our teams locally and other UK services to try and address the issues currently being faced in recruitment and retention”.
As a service, ESFRS is committed to supporting National On Call working groups both at Strategic and Practitioner level as this is a priority for the sector.
The Integrated Risk Management Project (IRMP) team are working on viable options to increase availability in order to support the Operational Resilience Plan. Alongside this, there is an Working Group for On Call, which consists of individuals who are responsible for reviewing and improving our recruitment process, training courses and development folders.
Group Manager Andy Cornford said, “We are using the feedback from staff to form a short-term action plan to immediately start work on changes and to recognise the importance of On Call Staff”.
We will utilise national learning and feedback from our staff to form the future proposals for improving our On Call sustainability.
In recent months our Recruitment Team have been working hard to engage with potential recruits by hosting events such as ‘Have a Go Days’. These events gave participants the chance to try a variety of job-related activities, whilst Firefighters were there to give practical advice and answer questions. Local On Call Stations have run their own recruitment evenings and drop-in sessions, providing first-hand advice throughout the recruitment process.
You can see six new On Call Firefighters pictured in their last week at our Service Training Centre before their pass out parade on 14/07/2023. Two of the new recruits will be stationed at Barcombe, one at Pevensey, one at Broad Oak, one at Hailsham and one at Seaford.
If you are interested in becoming an On Call Firefighter please go to our website for more information on the role, recruitment process and available vacancies. Alternatively, pop in and see your local crews.