Firefighters in Northamptonshire completed almost 1500 hours of work to support the ambulance service during the pandemic.
Since the end of April, on-call firefighters from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) have completed 146 shifts to support East Midlands Ambulance Service, amounting to just under 1500 hours of work.
Early in the pandemic, NFRS became one of the fire and rescue services asked to take part in work that included performing tasks such as driving Urgent Care vehicles and the safe moving and handling of patients.
In total, 12 firefighters from NFRS took part in supporting the work of EMAS during the Covid-19 pandemic.
NFRS Group Manager Stefan Douglas said: “All the firefighters who have supported this work for EMAS have volunteered to take this on and it has been a huge learning experience for them, and a rewarding one.
“The individuals who took part in the scheme have been able to take back additional skills to their on-call stations and EMAS has learned more about our way of working too.”
In order to carry out the work alongside Urgent Care colleagues in EMAS, firefighters undertook specialist training to gain the skills needed to perform their new roles.
NFRS Firefighters remain ready to resume their role supporting EMAS should the need arise.
