The Fire and Ambulance Department is anticipating greater enhancements to its staff in 2011, even after advancements in the last year.
A decision has been taken to add 12 more individuals to the fire team.
Chief Fire Officer Josiah Dupuis said it was a decision by government that led to an additional 11 workers being employed within the Fire and Ambulance Department.
“Last year, because of a decision by the government of Dominica, we saw an expansion in the establishment of the fire and ambulance services. Our establishment moved from 95 to 106,” he said at the department’s first press conference for the year last week.
“I have a document before me which indicates that there is a decision already for a further expansion of the fire department by 12, so we’re going to move from 106 to 118, and I think, within a few months this is very signifcant for the fire department,” Dupuis continued.
Dupuis has underscored the erection of a new fire station in St. Joseph as a milestone for the fire department in 2010.
The facility, with 10 fire officials serving there, opened on August 16 2010.
“St. Joseph in particular is very important to us because this is something that had been on the cards for several years…for decades… The presence of that station is certainly going to touch the lives of the people who live in the area,” Dupuis said.
Hats off to you Chief. The department is growing and thats good. How many women are part of this new number? Does that mean the living facility is catered for them too? My big concern is the need of a train person to help with sick persons when the ambulance arrives for someone to take them to the hospital. This is too much work for one person. The stories are too sad, How equipped are the ambulances? and what plans are made to do so?
Keep up the efforts hard working firemen.
I am not against individuals getting jobs and having a sense of security and dignity but we need to do our due diligence when hiring these individuals. Do we actually need 10 new officers? Do we have enough physical facilities to place them? Do we have programs in place so that they can have continued education and training? Do we have the trained personnel and technology to facilitate their personal growth and training? Do we have any incentive programs which will allow them to move up the ladder in their profession? One of the most egregious thing we can do is to make people become complacent due to lack of incentive and unaccountability. We should ask ourselves these questions.
What other areas of the department need adjustment, and how we can accommodate those new technologies and services. Instead of hiring men to be emergency medical technicians, why not employ them to be paramedics. The difference between these two disciplines are significant, yet they are both essential for survival. Emt are necessary to take vital signs, perform CPR and prevent individuals from going into shock, but they are not trained to deal with life saving situations
such as, acute medical conditions and trauma ,as do paramedics. Why can’t we hire individuals to become mechanics to work on our fire trucks.What am trying to say is that, we must expand our thought process and become creative, so that we will not become stagnant and waste resources such as minds, and government money. However, if we choose to employ without careful thought and due diligence, we must create incentives, so that these men and women can become fire investigators, CPR and first aid instructors or medical technicians.In doing so, we would have put in place initiatives for competition, which will lead to promotions and higher salaries.Usually,these incentives leads to more efficient , a more productive and a better quality of work and work related habits.
In regards to opening a new fire house in st.Joseph, I believe it is a wonderful endeavor and sensible idea. This move will allow a quicker response time for emergencies throughout the west coast.This difference in time may be the antidote to save people lives.
fire officers work 24 hours that to long chief
Well done Mr. Dupuis. Think you have done well for your department and that you have achieved. However I would like to point out to the people responsible for P.M.H to take a look at the orderlies department. I think they are being stretched over the years and there are more departments opening in the hospital, the number of orderlies remain the same for the past 15 or more years, 19 orderlies to cover the entire hospital on a three shift system. Three (3) orderlies per shift which includes a driver and two others to meet the demands of the rest of the work load, In addition the same two orderlies may be in the operating theater leaving no one to attend to the needs of the rest of the Hospital. There is a great need to increase the number of orderlies at the P.H.M just as the case of the fire department.
Most of the fire man dem in dee piccha looking tired.. you tink dey working dem too much? Maybe dey take that picchha just after dee a fire.. Poor hard working firemen…
Thats great but it would be even better if the fire officers and all other government workers could have thier insurnace paid for by the govermnent. Fire fighting is one of the most dangerous jobs and they should have proper insurance
New jobs are always a good thing to a country…. Hope the jobs are given to qualified persons and not friend and company
IT`s always good to see man or woman power included in any organization be it hospital staff, the police force,fire and ambulance services ect,ect, once the fiances are air marked for such additions. please people do not take this obversations and suggestions the wrong way i am asking cause i know my Dominican people very well quick to hate, condemn and do not like the truth in their face but i am a true Dominican and truthfully words cannot and will not break me. ,recently i decided to drive thru St Joseph on my way to Roseau and quite frankly over the years ST JOE and by the way i have son born in St JOE. BUT the place still looks like a getto with lots of small wooden houses closted and attached to each other especially on “The MORNE” where i lived for a short time. what was going thur my mind at the time was what if there`s a major fire up the morne area with the narrow roads and every body wants to park their vehicle on the side of an already narrow road mind you i was driving a small vehicle as small as they come and i had difficulty driving thru imagine Godforbid a massive fire or any other emergancy how on Earth the hudge fire trucks and other emergancy vehicles will be able to respond to any emergancy in a timely manner? I was only left to wonder that the St; JOE people and not only ST JOE. the same can be said for Mahaut and a number of other small and crowded villages in Dominica. I hope that the peolpe in the business of running our country take into consideration the logistics and impact of implementing change but due planning and consideration must be given when potential problems are yearning for attention. Take for instance Roseau is like a parking lot almost every day people are left with no choice but to walk in the middle of our streets around Astaphans there`s litterally no side walk to walk or push a person on a wheel chair i could go on and on pointing out problems areas. We should not operate like certain countries who only react when trouble srtikes rather than adressing them before hand lets learn to nip problems in the bud be it crimes,be it dealing with parroes,ect, lets always remember.” A STICH IN TIME CAN SAVE LIVES” ALWAYS DOMINICAN! PEACE!
…………………………….Why hire new firemen…………………………………………..
Why are we expanding personel if the training and the technology remains the same!! Is this just another I want a job scenario???? Are these new positions really justified???
Alot of the firmen I see seem to hang around and play cards or domino!! They don’t even want to do a weekly or even daily exercise [in my village]. It’s important to keep fit!!
Maybe I’m wrong … so can someone please tell me? I’m willing to accept a reasonable feedback!!
-Thanks for reading!
why the first that comes out got to be negetive have you ever travel over seas it’s the same thing the wait around till something happens it’s the same way in the usa so think b4 you write i see why they call us dom in a can
Come on Spyda…..
No need the your personal attacks!!
As I said … I would like a “reasonable” feedback as to why the need for new officers.
Do you know why?? You still did not answer the why part. If you do then please tell me.
My point was again….. I know they only respond when there’s an emergency but, they did not chose to send the current officers for better training/skills. They have not decided to upgrade the equipment [if this was the case then I would understand]. Instead they said they’ll be hiring new officers. Unless the DNO reporters did not ask why!!!
Spyda, all I wanted to know was why!! Why are they hiring new officers. Was this too much to ask??
New stations – like the one in St. joe in other strategic locations across the island for quicker response time. That’s what i understood.
we need more ambulances and more speacilist trainned paramedics!!!
…..but please Chief,encourage the minister responsible to take a good look at the physical environment of your headquarters; the galvanize tails look like (dan powie) old rotten teeth.,…this would for sure be a moral-booster to the hardworking men.