‘Forgotten’ firefighters want regular Covid tests and jab prioritisation

DERBYSHIRE firefighters are feeling “forgotten” and are being treated as “cannon fodder” due to a lack of regular Covid testing and of vaccine prioritisation, it is claimed.

A year into the pandemic, firefighters in Derbyshire are not being provided with regular Covid-19 testing despite coming into frequent contact with those in the county and city who are most vulnerable.

Some have taken it upon themselves to hop in a fire engine with the rest of their crew to get tested once a week at Pride Park.

A Derbyshire firefighter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he believed staff were already at serious risk of contracting the virus while attending call-outs, and that home visits added to this risk.

During call-outs, social distancing is rarely possible, with firefighters often in close personal contact with residents to rescue them from harm and to speak to those who are passing on details of the incident and fearing for their loved ones and properties. He has had relatives of his pull out of vital childcare bubble arrangements due to the perceived risk of him catching and spreading the virus. He fears passing it to his kids and he cannot now assist his elderly relatives with food shopping.

He and his colleagues across the county have been missing out the support they often provide to each other after difficult incidents which have a long-lasting mental toll – worsened by the anxiety of a lack of testing and vaccine prioritisation.

They say it would be helpful to see management in the service lobbying for both, but says this has not been the case and claims their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.

With these in place or being lobbied for, they would feel more at ease. They suspect management have not brought in regular testing for firefighters to avoid crippling workforce shortages caused by self isolation procedures should cases be identified. The pressure to restart home visits, despite a lack of testing, has been pushed by the rise in fatal and accidental house fires in the county.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said testing for staff without symptoms is in the works and the Chief Fire Officer, alongside the National Fire Chiefs Council, have been lobbying the Government for vaccine prioritisation. They said there was no evidence to suggest that its staff were at a higher risk from the virus than those in the top nine vaccine priority groups.