Category: Feature

Hello Guides : How To Be a Firefighter Part 2

At the request of some our readers. I went hunting for stories of how people became firefighters to see if they had any useful advice or tips for people who wanted to go into the emergency services. I went to have a chat to some working firefighters at Southwark Fire Station in London. This first

Hello, Guides: How to be a Firefighter Part 1

All photos by Eleanor Whalley Firefighters are cool. There’s no denying it. They save people’s lives and get to drive around in  huge trucks that make loud noises. Whether you are young or old, there are things in that kind of life that are inherently cool. The comedian  Dara O’Briain puts it perfectly in one of

The Emergency Services and Comedy

The emergency services often feature in stand up comedy, for some comics they are untouchable- heroes who according to Dara O’Briain are “absolutely bullet proof”. But for others like the ever angry Jack Dee they are not so much… (All rights belong to the BBC- I’m just spreading the word)

The Emergency Services Christmas Prayer

In the absence of a Christmas related emergency services story, I give you this. It was sent to me by a friend who is training to be an A and E nurse. While we all enjoy Christmas think of those who have to work the Christmas shift and offer this prayer up for them  

Cutbacks to the Police – Front line officers face the axe

Nearly 6,000 frontline officers will be removed in the next three years the Government’s latest budget cuts have shown. A long with this loss of  officers, 179 police stations will be removed and one in five will lose their front counters according to a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). What is worrying is

The Privatisation of the Police Force?

On a lighter note this month. I came across this Fry and Laurie sketch on Youtube and I thought it was rather worryingly relevant given the threats of privatisation that not only the police face but a number of other emergency services. I don’t own this clip ( well I own a copy of the

So you want to be Sarah Lund…well you can’t!

Being female a police office is statistically one of the most difficult careers to get into, add being of an ethnic minority and the odds decrease even further. I found this when looking at the statistics of how many women were hired, fired and promoted in the police force. For full details of the post

The Hillsborough Report

The Hillsborough Report has finally come out, although I doubt this is the end of this tragic affair. What has been found is shocking to say the lease. The panel discovered that the police had altered more than 160 witness statements in attempt to lay the blame for the disaster on the fans not the

The Hillsborough Disaster

As a new report on the notorious Hillsborough disaster is soon to come out looking at the tragic events that day and the behaviour of one of the key emergency services i.e. the police I though that it would be worth looking over the event itself if only to reminder us of what must never

24hrs in A and E Episode 1

The Lack of Routine 24 hours in A and E is a ‘fly on the wall’ documentary recording the highs and lows of working in the emergency department of King’s College Hospital. On first glance the premise of the show sounds at best slightly gimmicky and at worst highly exploitative. The first episode manages to

Women In The Force?… What A Notion!

Women and their role in the police continues to be a source of controversy in the force. Ellie Mae O’Hagan wrote in The Guardian recently about the problems of women in the police force  and the worries over the return of the ‘macho culture’ of previous times as well as the worries of current officers who cannot get promoted.

The Birthday of 999

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the 999 call. It’s strange to think of a time when 999 hasn’t been around. The notion of not being able to pick up a phone and call the ambulance, fire brigade or the police is a frightening one. But service is less than 100 years old,

Recruitment and Saving the Clipper

Through an FOI request I found out that in the last five years there have been twelve appointments to the Deputy Assistant commissioner grade within the fire service – does the nwfs have any comment that? Although  the amount of women in the fire service has been going up, only 4% of the firefighter service

Keeping Tabs On The Men

You’ve said there was a great camaraderie being on the watch but did you ever have to deal with much sexism being a firefighter? Well when I joined in 1988 there were just very few woman firefighters so it was difficult then but now I speak to women firefighters and they say they have a

Heroes and Heroines

Dany Cotton is the Deputy Assistant Commissioner for the London Fire Brigade and National Chair of Networking Women in the Fire Service (NWFS). She is also the highest ranking female fire fighter in the British Fire service. I sat down and had a chat with her about the highs and lows of the job and saving Cutty

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