Hartlepool's fire brigade prepares to help with covid vaccines - and sets up testing centre for staff

Starting from this week, Cleveland Fire Brigade has set up a site at its headquarters at Queens Meadow Business Park in Hartlepool to test its staff for Covid-19.

If the pilot proves successful, the intention is to expand the testing into operational stations and eventually lead to staff being home tested twice a week.

Ian Hayton, chief fire officer at Cleveland Fire Brigade, told the fire authority last Friday this would help reduce the burden on community testing sites.

He said: “We’ll be running here as a two-pod test centre for our own staff.

“The plan is that once we have demonstrated that we can run those we’ll then expand that out into operational stations and ultimately our aspiration is that all of our staff will be home tested twice a week.”

Mr Hayton thanked Hartlepool Borough Council and Hartlepool’s director of public health Craig Blundred for their support in setting up the site.

Cleveland Fire Brigade staff are also helping with the vaccination effort, with some firefighters, who have volunteered, being trained as vaccinators for sites in the region.

Mr Hayton said: “At this moment in time we are training firefighters, because they have the prerequisite medical qualifications in trauma care, to actually be trained as vaccinators.

“Of course there are other roles that we’re encouraging people who haven’t got that prerequisite medical qualification, to actually do those support roles.

“So we are pushing forward in relation to our involvement as a fire and rescue service in the vaccination programme.”

To date, 401 hours have been spent by staff volunteering in support of the vaccination programme across the region.

Meanwhile some firefighters have also already received their first vaccination from excess stock available at the end of the day, as part of an arrangement also open to others such as police officers.

Mr Hayton said: “Quite clearly what we prefer of course is that the vaccination centres were 100% efficient, no vaccination spare or wasted at the end of the day.

“There is an arrangement in place on a planned basis that, if at the end of the day, rather than waste vaccinations, essential workers can get very, very late calls to actually ensure that those vaccinations don’t go to waste.

“That started for us as soon as Thursday, so two of our crews for instance were vaccinated at the end of the day.”

Mr Hayton said this all forms part of the additional work the brigade is doing to support the Covid-19 pandemic efforts, as well as carrying out their usual day to day work.

He said: “We are supporting the effort, we have got test centres in place for our own staff, we’re supporting the big vaccination effort, we’re delivering certainly our statutory responsibilities, and we are looking after the health, safety and welfare of everybody who works for you.”

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