1 – Specialist water rescue resource capability in Craven

Proposal

• Train a team of 10 firefighters at Skipton On-call fire station on specialist water rescue skills and equipment to enter fast flowing water.
• Should the water rescue team be mobilised there would be sufficient crew still available to maintain availability of one of the two fire engines at Skipton to respond to emergencies.

Why are we proposing this?

• All our firefighters are trained to deal with water risk incidents, but some receive enhanced training and equipment to respond to more complex water rescue incidents.
• We have 5 specialist water rescue teams located across the Service area who can enter fast flowing water to rescue people.
• Of the 218 life-risk water incidents attended over 5 years, almost 20% happened in the Craven District – mostly in the Skipton area.
• The nearest specialist water rescue team to Craven is Ripon which is around 45 minutes away from Skipton and around 1hr 20mins from the western end of Craven.
• The absence of a dedicated water risk capability allowing entry into fast flowing water within the Craven area represents a significant gap which we are addressing.