United fire service

THE important issue of the fire and rescue service responding to medical emergencies was rightly given prominence on the Mail’s front page. We need a wider public debate on the increasingly widening role of the fire service in our communities.

However, the headline ‘Firemen sent to medical emergencies’ is out of step with what the modern fire service is about.

I joined in 1985 as a firefighter; we are all firefighters, men and women. We should not disregard the huge number of women who are proud to be firefighters.

DAVID GREEN, National Officer Fire Brigades Union, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey.