Further to the Notice issued on 21 December 2017 from Karl Patterson, Centre Manager, Southern Fire Communications and subsequently forwarded to other Comcentres throughout New Zealand.

The Northern Branch are concerned that this notice and instruction has been issued without training or adequate support for staff members.

Whilst we understand the reasoning and that the request may have come from some staff members, it is unacceptable for such an instruction to be issued without training.

Our recommendation from the Northern Branch of the NZPFU is that you do not undertake this work until such time as full training has been given to the satisfaction of the Northern Branch and, furthermore, refer any emergency calls of this nature back to St John who is the organisation trained and resourced to handle this type of emergency event. St John have a fully staffed and functional Comcentre whose primary role is to deal in this type of emergency and those staff receive full training in this aspect of emergency call taking.

Be aware that this procedure is available to staff if they feel that they are able to use it to make that difference. Please remember these types of incidents can be extremely stressful and ensure that you also get adequate support if you are required to assist in this matter.