Kent Fire and Rescue Service
Creating a safer future – together: Our delivery plan 2025 to 2029

• Work with partners agencies to identify those at risk of falls, or other vulnerabilities, through our safe and well visits.
• Ensure we have firefighters trained to an advanced first aid standard (IECR).
• Give our firefighters training and equipment, recognising that treating, lifting, and moving patients is a specialist skill.
• Evaluating which of our resources are best placed to deal with this additional demand so that it does not adversely affect our ability to respond to fires and other emergencies.
• Continue to work with colleagues in the ambulance service to further improve our response.

• Further integrate medical response into all fire and rescue operations.
• Respond with equipment that is designed for the task, improves patient outcomes, and reduces risk to our colleagues.
• Allocate the right resources to the incident depending on need – this may mean that in non-life-threatening circumstances we send a resource that is slightly further away or not on an immediate response.

• Review the way we currently provide ‘assistance to ambulance’ and implement changes in policies, procedures, training, and equipment to deliver improved outcomes in a more efficient and sustainable way. Agree any improvements, in consultation with partner agencies in the health sector.
• Hold regular meetings between fire and ambulance services to discuss ongoing collaborations, review case studies and address operational challenges. This will help identify areas for improvement.
• Ensure that our colleagues understand when and how to raise issues involving medical vulnerabilities (for example during Home Fire Safety Visits).
• Work with partners in the health sector to further improve the identification of fire risk in the home to people with complex medical needs (we know there is a strong link between vulnerability and fire). For example, following up hospital discharge with safe and well visits.
• Improve our post incident arrangements (the things we do after someone has had a fire or emergency in their home) to ensure we are signposting potential increase in vulnerability to other agencies (we know a fire in the home can result in a big increase in the vulnerability of people living there).
• Liaise with ambulance service to assess the impact / helpfulness of our response.

Incidents:

• Number of gain entry incidents requested by the ambulance service.
• Number of complex and non-complex rescues measured by emergency and non-emergency response.
• Time spent on incidents assisting the ambulance service.
• Time taken to triage customers using the clinical helpdesk before the ambulance service arrives. 

Community:

• Number of targeted home safety visits that highlight complex medical needs and referral for a safe and well visit.
• Number of referrals from other agencies for customers with complex medical needs.
• Population age profile.
• Population disability profile.

Colleague preparedness:

• Immediate emergency care qualifications in date (clinical governance).
• Complex rescue training in date for all operational colleagues.
• Number of musculoskeletal injuries due to work.
• Health and safety incidents related to manual handling

ID No. 6 – Medical Emergencies occurring at water rescues.