FIREFIGHTERS are deeply concerned about their capacity to respond to a light rail emergency, with the ACT United Firefighters Union saying emergency response will be flawed and ineffective due to inadequate crewing.

ACT UFU branch secretary Greg McConville says while ACT Fire and Rescue have commissioned a platform on demand (POD) container with specialist light rail rescue equipment, they have failed to crew the truck with the two firefighters it requires to ensure the vehicle can operate under lights and sirens to an incident.

“Urgent driving duty means lights and sirens. If a single driver puts on lights and sirens and drives very quickly, they can’t safely do that, operate the radio and navigate at the same time,” Mr McConville says.

“With only a single firefighter at the wheel, that emergency vehicle will only be permitted to travel at road speed, with traffic.

“If you’re stuck under a light rail vehicle, it’s an awfully long time to wait and it will put additional pressure on the crews there to use whatever equipment they’ve got to try and get someone out while the proper equipment is being transported there.

“It could make the difference between life and death.”

Mr McConville says other jurisdictions have allocated an additional firefighter to similar POD trucks to ensure the emergency vehicle could deliver the equipment to where it was needed in the shortest possible time. In addition, other jurisdictions have specialist technical rescue vehicles, which are lacking in the ACT.

“We’re calling on the ACT Emergency Services Agency to, as in other jurisdictions, take the sensible, common sense approach and properly crew these vital emergency service vehicles so they can get to the scene and save lives,” he says.

The ACT UFU is calling for an additional three firefighters per shift to ensure there were always two operators for each of ACT Fire and Rescue’s POD transporters.

“A firefighter’s job is a to save lives. It’s a job they take very seriously. But they can’t do that job if the equipment they need is stuck in a traffic jam because the ACT Emergency Services Agency refuses to provide adequate crew members,” he says.