A question for Firefighters

Delancey

I read somewhere that in London the Fire Brigade never slide down the brass poles in fire stations when they get a call - apparently health/safety/insurance reasons are why , despite this all stations still respect the tradition and have the pole in place.

Is it the same practice here and a call out results in a brisk but orderley descent of the stairs or is the pole actually used ?

Wonder who'll be the first to reference the ' pole ' and ' dancing ' :rolleyes:

resus

irony is poles where origionally introduced because firefighters where falling down stairs and breaking their ankles !

Paulzx

Still used in Dublin..........except in Dolphins Barn

dfbemt

Paulzx wrote: »

Still used in Dublin..........except in Dolphins Barn

Although a lot of lads will still use the stairs.

Approx 10 years ago I suffered a serious injury sliding down the pole in the new Tara Street :eek:

Dangerous bloody things.

deadwood

Feckin' foreigners.

Come over here, take our jobs and our women. Now they're hurting our firemen?

Paulzx

dfbemt wrote: »

Approx 10 years ago I suffered a serious injury sliding down the pole in the new Tara Street :eek:

Dangerous bloody things.

Going down head first...show off:)

Finnbar01

dfbemt wrote: »

Although a lot of lads will still use the stairs.

Approx 10 years ago I suffered a serious injury sliding down the pole in the new Tara Street :eek:

Dangerous bloody things.

I would never have took you as a pole dancer.

Interestingly, Drogheda Fire Station, which is relatively new, being built about five years ago, I believe, is a two-story building, but pretty much everything is on the first floor.

The Chief's office, canteen etc. are on the top floor, but still only a short corridor away from the staircase, and I don't believe any poles are fitted at all throughout the building.

Are all new firestations going to be predominantly a first-floor (or even single storey) building? It does make sense.

deadwood

Deleted User wrote: »

Are all new firestations going to be predominantly a first-floor (or even single storey) building? It does make sense.

I can see a pattern here.

First they do away with poles. Now it's single storey fire stations, so ladders will be next. Cutbacks, eh?

Delancey

Thanks for the replies - while it looks great for the cameras and as a PR thing , I would imagine there's a reasonably high risk of hurting yourself badly coming down the pole :eek: ?

wreckless

think is has a lot to do with the station is full time or retained. Most full time will have a pole, if built years ago anyway. a lot of new retained stations, built in the last 10 years dont have poles as they dont need them. Even though, eg. Wexford HQ, is new in the last 2 years or so, is two storey, has offices, canteens, lecture rooms upstairs, but no pole. Id say the architects brief didn't include one for insurance and H+S reasons.

johnnyrotten

All Dublin full-time stations have a pole except Dolphins Barn which is single storey.
Poles are not dangerous is used properly

fastbowler

Don't forget that all recruits get brought into Tara St. during their training to be shown how to slide down the pole before signing off so the DCC are covered in case of future claims.... though sliding down the pole with a full cup of tea without spilling a drop is just something you pick up with experience..:D