Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
840. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason that qualified fire officers who are trained in community response are not called on in the event of an emergency other than for their fire service remit (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41866/22]
View answerThe provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for equipment and priority infrastructural projects.
Responsibility for the provision of emergency medical services, including pre-hospital emergency care, rests with the Health Service Executive (HSE) which operates the National Ambulance Service (NAS) and emergency departments in hospitals in accordance with health sector legislation and national policy. The HSE operates under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Health.
As Minister with policy and legislative responsibility for fire safety and the provision of fire services by local authorities, my primary concern, as set out in the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003, is that local authority provided fire services are meeting their statutory obligations in respect of provision of fire services and fire safety. These responsibilities include the important activity of community and other fire safety initiatives as well as response to 999/112 calls.
In general, there is a high degree of collaboration and co-ordination of emergency activity among the Principal Emergency Services. In some circumstances, the HSE’s NAS calls for assistance from fire services in responding to certain categories of 999/112 emergency calls. Such calls are typically in respect of, but not limited to, ECHO (life threatening) emergencies. As well as being able to call on Community First Responders, the NAS is aware that many fire services are equipped with automatic external defibrillators and have trained their fire-fighters in Cardiac First Responder and Emergency First Responder to Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council standards. Fire services are so equipped and trained in the first instance to ensure the health and safety of their own staff, but can also use their skills and equipment where they encounter casualties at emergency incidents.
Fire services generally respond to calls for assistance from external bodies in accordance with protocols operated within the three fire services Regional Communications Centres.
Any proposal for formalising such assistance needs to be subject to appropriate governance, cost reimbursement arrangements and to be set in the context of a service agreement with the HSE/NAS which will not impact on or adversely affect fire services' statutory role. It would be important in such circumstances to ensure that local authority and fire services' resources are not diverted from their statutory fire service and fire safety responsibilities, where they are providing assistance for another public body. The potential impact on the current Community First Responders schemes would also have to be assessed.
As responsibility for the provision of emergency medical services, including pre-hospital emergency care, rests with the HSE, the Department of Health are best placed to provide an overview of the current arrangements for provision of a response to health emergencies and any future proposals to work with local authorities to augment first response capabilities.
