CFO Jamie Courtney

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority has appointed Jamie Courtney as the county’s new Chief Fire Officer (CFO) just days after South Yorkshire Police Authority announced the appointment of David Crompton as the new Chief Constable for the county.

Mr Courtney has been in the CFO role on an interim basis since April 2011 following the departure of Mark Smitherman. He joined South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue in November 2006 and has held a number of high-level roles, including Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Area Manager – Head of Emergency Response and Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Service Delivery.

Mr Courtney said, “It is a great honour to take up the role of Chief Fire Officer for South Yorkshire on a full-time basis. I am under no illusions that with the current economic climate we face testing times to find ways of making the savings in our budget. However, we have an extremely skilful and hard working team across South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and alongside the fire authority, community partners and members of the public I believe that together we can overcome the difficulties which face us.”

David Crompton

David Crompton, as the new Chief Constable for South Yorkshire, takes over from Meredydd Hughes who retired from the Force in October.

Mr Crompton joins South Yorkshire Police after previously holding a number of roles at West Yorkshire Police. He has been Assistant Chief Constable for local policing and Assistant Chief Constable for Territorial Operations before becoming Deputy Chief Constable in 2008.

At West Yorkshire Police, Mr Crompton has been leading proposals to save more than £100m over the next three and a half years as part of a cost reduction strategy. He said, “I am looking forward to the challenge of leading the force through what is a significant transitional period for policing across the UK. We will have to successfully manage the reduction in our budgets, changes to our partner agencies and the impact this will have on communities across South Yorkshire.

“A lot of work has been undertaken in South Yorkshire to ensure crime is at its lowest for more than 20 years. We will be doing all we can to continue this success.”

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The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority has released a report suggesting that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money could be saved by sharing more fire stations with the ambulance service.

In its response to a GLA report into the future of the London Ambulance Service (LAS), which was published late last year, the fire authority report goes further and suggests that more joint fire and ambulance stations, a joint headquarters and collaboration between control rooms could deliver a better service to Londoners and save money.

Chairman of the LFEPA, Cllr Brian Coleman, said, “The London Fire Brigade is already delivering a world class fire and rescue service for the people of London and by working more closely with the ambulance service we could provide an even better emergency service at less cost. At the moment, the London Ambulance Service shares facilities at three fire stations but this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

“Together, the fire brigade and ambulance services should look at the potential benefits to Londoners of sharing a range of services from procurement, to property and 999-control centres. No options should be off the table when it comes to the London Fire Brigade and the ambulance service working more closely together.”

The GLA report says that the ambulance service’s 70 stations are worth an estimated £80m and that combining more of these with fire stations could deliver savings. It says that all opportunities for closer working and integration between the fire brigade and ambulance service should be explored.

Victoria Borwick

Responding to LFEPA, Victoria Borwick AM, Chair of the London Assembly’s Health and Public Services Committee, was keen to emphasise howeverthat, as well as the speed of the response, it is essential that highly-qualified medical professionals are there to treat the patient. She said, “As our recent reporthighlighted, it is no longer the case that the London Ambulance Service just transports patients to hospital. Its role – as part of the NHS – is much more about going out, as paramedics, treating Londoners on site, whether by the roadside, at work or at home.

“In our report we identified potential cost savings in sharing some back office premises, but we also highlighted the need for doctors and highly skilled paramedics who are trained to save lives in that ‘golden hour’ of an emergency.

“The ambulance service is one of the main gateways to the NHS for people needing treatment and paramedics are out on our streets now, all day, every day, helping people and saving lives, not just sitting around waiting to respond to a call. For Londoners, knowing that in a medical emergency a highly qualified medical professional will come to their aid, is what matters most.”

Duncan Parsonage, WMAS Community Response Manager delivering the FPOS refresher course to Firefighters from Green Watch Stafford. Photo: Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has now begun rolling out First Person on Scene (FPOS) refresher courses to 850 operational personnel at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The trust struck up a unique partnership with the fire and rescue service back in January 2009, where WMAS provided FPOS Intermediate training to frontline firefighters to help further ensure that casualties in the region are provided with the best care possible at the scene of an incident.

The first stage of the training project involved rolling out the four-day course, which provided firefighters with the advanced first aid skills that are needed to care for and to help stabilise trauma casualties should they arrive at an incident prior to ambulance personnel. This initial three-year course roll out proved to be extremely successful and concluded in October 2011.

The trust has now begun the next stage of the training; a refresher programme, which will again take place over a further three years.

Alongside the FPOS training project Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service installed defibrillators on to all of its frontline vehicles and 80 watch-managers were trained as defibrillator instructors by WMAS.

Talking about the project, Duncan Parsonage, WMAS Community Response Manger and project lead, said, “Although Staffordshire Fire and Rescue personnel have received more advanced training than any other fire service within the country, the training will certainly not replace the work of the ambulance service. What this training will do, however, is enable casualties at incidents to receive some level of medical care as quickly as possible. Firefighters now have a better understanding of primary and secondary injuries and the partnership working between the two services has led to a better multi-agency approach when dealing with incidents, which can only be of benefit to the patient.”

Capita’s Transforming Emergency Services – Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money conference, which was due to take place on 23 February in London, has been cancelled and will now take place in the second half of 2012.

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