Ministerial Report
To: Senator I. Le Marquand, Minister for Home Affairs
Senator L. Farnham, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs
S. W. Austin-Vautier, Chief Officer, Home Affairs
From: Chief Fire Officer M. James
Date: 9th February 2012
Subject: Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 2012
1. Purpose
1.1 The purpose of this report is to apprise the Minister of the current arrangements for dealing with a wide range of other emergencies and humanitarian service and to seek approval for the Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 201- to enable the States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service to continue to make provision and respond to other emergencies and provide humanitarian services in Jersey.
2. Background
2.1 When the Fire Service (Jersey) Law, 1959 was introduced, the States of Jersey Fire Service (as it was then titled) was expected to focus on fighting fires, and the Law was therefore restricted to this function. The demands and public expectations on the Service, however, have developed since the 1959 Law provided it with a statutory function relating exclusively to fighting fires.
2.2 Until recently all other rescue and emergencies functions that the Service fulfils were discretionary, albeit some have been provided for many years. These ‘discretionary’ duties include freeing trapped passengers from vehicles, containing chemical spills, rescuing people in difficulties at sea or high places, aiding people affected by flooding or undergoing search and rescue activities, as well as provide other humanitarian services.
2.3 The new Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011, when appointed by the States will repeal the 52 year old law and replace it with a more appropriate legislation that reflects the modern role of the Fire & Rescue Service in Jersey. It provides for the maintenance and functions of the States of Jersey Fire & Rescue service, as previously established by the Fire Service (Jersey) Law 1959.
2.4 The new Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011 recognises the expanded rescue role of the Fire & Rescue Service in Jersey beyond its traditional fire-fighting role by placing a statutory duty on the Home Affairs Minister to make provision for rescuing people in the event of a road traffic collision, rescuing people from dangerous places such as cliffs in addition to making provision for extinguishing fires.
3. Dealing with other Emergencies
3.1 The new Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011 also provides the Minister with authority to make provision by Order in respect of other emergencies and humanitarian services not already provided for within the main articles of the law.
3.2 Article 10 of the Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011 allows the Minister for Home Affairs to make an Order specifying ‘Other Emergencies’ for which a provision may be made, to the extent that the Minister consider reasonable.
3.3 An emergency is defined within the Law as:
(a) an event or situation that causes or is likely to cause a person to die, to be seriously injured or to become seriously ill;
(b) an event or situation that causes or is likely to cause serious damage to property; or
(c) an event or situation that causes or is likely to cause serious harm to the environment;
3.4 The UK Fire & Rescue Service Act 2004 has taken a similar approach and in 2006 published an Emergencies Order placing a duty on the UK Fire & Rescue Service to deal with Chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear emergencies (Hazmat Incidents) and Rescue and Protection in case of building collapse and transport accidents
3.5 Jersey’s Fire & Rescue Service provides a wider rescue role than its UK counterparts. This is due to the following reasons:
- The relative isolation of the Jersey with no immediate mutual aid from surrounding county Fire & Rescue Services or other Emergency Services
- The limited capabilities of the other emergencies services to under take rescue roles i.e. the Coastguard, who in the UK undertake cliff rescue and the Ambulance Service, who in the UK can call on Ambulance Hazardous Area Response Teams to work along the Fire & Rescue Service in the inner cordon.
- The limited resilience of the other emergency service means that the Fire & rescue Service is sometimes called to support them at emergency incidents. This include providing emergency medical care and undertaking open land searches for missing persons.
- The significant maritime risks have also resulted in the Service developing a inshore sea rescue response in support of the Coastguard and the RNLI. The States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service have provided a 24/7 water rescue response in Jersey for the last 52 years. During this time it has launched its inshore rescue boats 2922 times and saved over a thousand lives.
3.6 The Service is very well equipped and trained to deal with a wide range of other emergencies. On average it responds to 423 other emergencies a year, approximately a third of all emergency calls.
3.7 These emergency services can be divided into four categories
- Water Rescue incidents involving inshore sea rescues, inland water rescue from reservoirs and dealing with serious flooding incidents
- Search and Rescue incidents involving locating or rescuing people and protecting them from serious harm in the event non road transport incident such as an aircraft crash, collapsed buildings and other structures, landslides or other natural disasters
- Hazardous Materials incidents involving making safe spillages of chemical, biological, radioactive or other hazardous materials that threaten people or the environment.
- Assistance to other Emergency Services such as provided medical assistance, moving heavy casualties or searching for missing persons.
4. Humanitarian Services
4.1 Article 11 of the Fire and Rescue Service (Jersey) Law 2011 allows the Minister for Home Affairs to make an Order specifying ‘Humanitarian Services’ for which a provision may be made, to the extent that the Minister consider reasonable.
4.2 Humanitarian Service incidents are where members of the public or animals are, or could be, suffering from personal distress or severe inconvenience. This will also include incidents where failure to assist could lead to a deterioration of conditions and possibly threaten life or greater distress or inconvenience. They include:
(a) the rescue of persons from lift cars;
(b) assistance to persons to gain access to places; and
(c) the provision of medical aid to persons,
(d) the rescue of animals
4.3 The Fire & Rescue Service can usually use its rescue equipment and training to provide humanitarian services and relieve distress. On average the Service responds to approximately 100 Humanitarian Service incidents per year.
4.4 The type of Humanitarian Services that the Service responds to can be classified as follows
- the rescue of persons trapped in lift cars
- persons locked in or out of premises
- the rescue of animals
- removal of objects from the body (e.g. rings, handcuffs, chains etc.) causing distress
- pumping out flooded premises
- making safe buildings, chimneys, aerials, scaffolding
- the provision of non-emergency medical aid to persons i.e. first aid at community safety
- dealing with chemical and other non-hazardous spillages that do not threaten life or the environment
- pumping water from wells, swimming pools, trenches etc.
- supplying of water i.e. emergency water supply for farm animals
- washing down road ways and spillages following road accidents
5. Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 2012
5.1 Authority for the Service to respond to other emergencies and provide humanitarian services was provided in the under the old 1959 Fire Service (Jersey) Law, Article 6, which gave powers to Minister to ‘employ the Fire Service personnel and equipment for purposes other than fire-fighting purposes for which it appears to the Minister to be suitable, and to make such charge as may be determined for any services rendered in the course of such employment or use.’
5.2 To enable the Fire & Rescue Service to legally continue to provide assistance at other emergences and to provide humanitarian services a new Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 201- has been drafted by the law draftsman in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer
5.3 The Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 201- specifies those additional emergencies, as detailed in sec 3.7 of this report, in respect of which provision may be made in Jersey and to the extent that the Minister considers it reasonable to do so.
5.4 The Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 201- also specifies a range of humanitarian services in as detailed in sec 4.4 of this report, in respect of which provision may be made in Jersey and to the extent that the Minister considers it reasonable to do so.
6. Recommendations
6.1 The Minister is recommended to approve the Fire & Rescue Service (Emergencies and Humanitarian Services) (Jersey) Order 201- to enable the States of Jersey Fire & Rescue Service to continue to make provision and respond to other emergencies and provide humanitarian services in Jersey.