A typical day in the life of a Control Operator...

It is almost impossible to describe a "typical day" in the Fire Service Control room. The very nature of control room work means a Fire Control Operator faces an ever-changing daily work routine. One minute an operator could be dealing with a routine administrative matter and the next, a Major Incident, Chemical or even a Cliff Rescue and it is the Control Operators responsibility to mobilise appliances and manage the incident from start to finish.

Over the years Control rooms have evolved into much more than call handling centres and have become more involved with wider Service issues capable of handling any major disaster or prolonged event such as foot and mouth, the fuel crisis and terrorist incidents.

The main reason that a Fire Service Control exists is to handle emergency calls requesting the assistance of the Fire Service. Then based upon the information gleaned from the caller to mobilise appropriate fire service resources to deal with it. Sometimes Operators have to stay on the telephone with callers to keep them calm if they are stuck in a situation they cannot get out of safely. Once the nearest appliances have been mobilised, Control staff must ensure that communications are maintained between Control and the Fire ground to ensure all incidents are dealt with in the efficient, professional way expected of the Service.

A typical shift starts with a handover period where the oncoming watch is given all the relevant information they require from the watch completing their shift. This information can be anything from an incident in progress to equipment/information updates held within the control room or on fire stations. This is then followed by a series of routine daily tasks i.e. testing control room/fire station equipment, contacting different fire stations to ascertain staffing levels and to find out the crewing levels for fire appliances in case cover is required at a different station. Other duties carried out include checking, amending and collecting information to keep our records/procedures up to date. Control staff provide statistical information for the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) for government reports and continuing analysis. Control are also involved in the Abandoned Vehicle line in which members of the public can report a vehicle which has either been abandoned or has come to its end of life. This helps reduce arson within our community.

Operators are required to undertake vast amounts of training to keep up to date with equipment and procedures and the latest technology throughout their careers and regularly learn something new.

Due to the nature of the work carried out in the control room, and also the length of time spent working together control room staff must have the ability to work well in a team environment. Although constantly supervised it is an essential quality to be able to hear, see and know what is going on around you (multi-tasking) especially as the 'Watch' you work with becomes like a second family offering support and advice whenever required in often quite stressful circumstances.