Small insight into dfb

foxtrot-oscar

Reporter Aoibhinn Twomey spends a night with the brave firefighters of Blanchardstown Fire Station.
HAVE to admit that I didn’t have to think twice when offered a night with ten burly firemen. After all, most women can only fantasise about such a proposition.
So in their interests of true professionalism I rose to the journalistic challenge of tagging along with the crew of ‘D Watch’ at Blanchardstown Fire Station on a bitterly cold Friday night.
A night shift starts at 6pm and ends some 13 hours later at 9am, that’s a long working day by anyone’s standards but something you “just get used to”, apparently.
Dublin Fire Brigade is unique in Ireland as firefighters are also trained paramedics who cover the ambulance service and are able to administer drugs.
It’s comforting to realise that when an engine and ambulance attend a scene, there at least ten paramedics at the ready.
“At the start of every shift a parade is carried out where badge numbers are called out and each of the crew is assigned their individual duties,” explained acting station officer Derek Cheevers.
“Five firefighters and an officer will work the motor and two on the ambulance. Each person on the engine has a specific responsibility. The driver will operate the pump, three will work on supplying the water and two will be assigned as BA (breathing apparatus) wearers.
“The team are all multi-skilled and highly trained in multi-disciplines such as Swift Water Rescue and Highline Rope Rescue to deal with the expanding needs of the service.”
Keith Conroy and Kevin Brogan were assigned on the ambulance the night I was on ‘duty’ and their first task was to relieve the outgoing crew who had been held up in Beaumont Hospital for over six hours that day.
Up to five ambulances had spent most of that day waiting for their patients to be moved off their trolleys and onto hospital beds, yet another example of the waste of resources created by the hospital bed crisis.
I stayed behind at the station and chatted with the fire crew over a cup of tea until the bell rang when everything was dropped and within the blink of the eye they were gone.
By the time I’d run down stairs to district officer Larry Byrne’s vehicle which ferried me around for the night, the firefighters were already suited, sitting in the fire truck and heading out of the station.
The first fire call-out was to a pile of blazing Christmas trees that were set alight close to a busy road.
And while dousing the pine-needled remnants of the festive season may not be the most exciting of call-outs, the crew still worked with urgency, efficiency and an impressive degree of professionalism.
Unfortunately extinguishing burning cars and wheelie bins is something the Blanchardstown fire crew are more used to dealing with thanks to mindless youths with little regard for the resources wasted on such incidents.
The second call-out of the night was to a two-car accident in Dublin 15.
Road traffic accidents (RTA) are nearly always attended to by both the fire and ambulance service for health and safety reasons. After a quick assessment of what seemed like a straight-forward fender bender, Larry called for the back-up of two ambulances as the passenger of one of the cars could not feel his legs.
Here’s where the six months and up to 1,000 hours of fire and medical training came in.
Firefighter Shay Gill sat behind the casualty who was in his early teens until the roof was cut off the car providing not only distracting chitchat and reassurance but vital head support to “stabilise the C-Spine”.
The other crew worked on making the scene safe. They ‘made down fire cover’, cut off the power to the car’s engine and stabilised the car with timber before it was ready to be cut open.
The team worked in the midst of heated exchanges between the casualty’s family and a group of teens who laughed and joked while they recorded the incident on their camera phones, footage which is presumably on youtube at this stage.
Within a matter of minutes, the casualty was delicately placed on the spinal board that was slid in behind his seat once the roof was off.
Paramedics Keith and Kevin, who had also worked the scene with the fire crew, rushed the casualty to nearby Connolly Hospital while the second ambulance looked after the driver of the damaged car who had initially clambered out of the vehicle.
Then it was back to the station for another hand-warming cup of tea where the team joked with the ‘Daddy ‘ of the family Mick Finglas - the station’s longest serving member.
Outspoken and much-loved Mick is eligible for retirement having served over 30 years with the fire service. District officer Larry described how each day Mick jokes, “this could be my last day now I tell you” but his comrades are convinced he loves the job too much to leave.
The mood among the firefighters remained jovial throughout the night but there are unfortunately times when a life is lost and the team sullenly returns to the station to reflect on the incident.
“It’s very hard when you lose a child,” says Keith Conroy.
“Personally, it’s the hardest part of the job for me because I have two young children at home. It’s part of the work I guess but it’s not something you ever get used to, you just have to deal with it.”
Derek explains: “In a situation like that we would come back to the station and chat about it. We all look out for each other so if someone is quiet we make sure we keep an eye on them. We are there to support one another and if needs be we will all decide if a counsellor should be called in.”
The work of a firefighter is definitely not for everyone. You work 42 and a half hours over a three day week and the job is extremely physically and mentally demanding. It’s a cliché but the work is more a dedication rather than a job.

http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/1518/56/

TheNog

nice article though Aibhinn should learn how to count!!!

6pm to 9am is not 13 hours, its 15 hrs or those of you who cant count either :pac:


pity there is no video footage of her night. it would be interesting. I worked with the Drogheda Fire Brigade for 2 weeks on Phase 2 of my training and it was brilliant. Great bunch lads and it gave me an insight into there work.

foxtrot-oscar

TheNog wrote: »

nice article though Aibhinn should learn how to count!!!

6pm to 9am is not 13 hours, its 15 hrs or those of you who cant count either :pac:


pity there is no video footage of her night. it would be interesting. I worked with the Drogheda Fire Brigade for 2 weeks on Phase 2 of my training and it was brilliant. Great bunch lads and it gave me an insight into there work.

Its the dublin people, hardly the pinnacle of journalism excellence


You wernt the wolly who drove their et onto betteystown beach were you?



One thing i noticed in the article is she was chauffered round by the d/o, now thing is would she turn out to all the calls from no 9 station, what if he was called out or diverted to a major fire, what would happen to her then??

TheNog

foxtrot-oscar wrote: »

Its the dublin people, hardly the pinnacle of journalism excellence

What are you saying about Dublin people? My g/f is a Dub

foxtrot-oscar wrote: »

You wernt the wolly who drove their et onto betteystown beach were you?

Not me. I have my own little incident

foxtrot-oscar wrote: »

One thing i noticed in the article is she was chauffered round by the d/o, now thing is would she turn out to all the calls from no 9 station, what if he was called out or diverted to a major fire, what would happen to her then??

Probably would tell her to stay outta the way

foxtrot-oscar

TheNog wrote: »

What are you saying about Dublin people? My g/f is a Dub

Thats an issue ill deal with at another time, but the dublin people is a group of free newspapers, ie northside and soutside people, its delivered free to houses and well lets say its not irish times

tallaght01

One of those guys is my cousin. Top man. Glad he got a mention