RTS Emergency Services – Hartlepool – October 4th 2023

As an operational Watch manager at Thornaby fire station which specialises in water rescue for the Brigade area, we deal with many incidents involving suicide or attempted suicide. We tend to deal with such incidents in a professional manner similar to the way we deal with all our incidents by trying to ensure the safety of our crews whilst hopefully saving life as we often do. We perhaps sometimes don’t give enough thought to the individual or their families or the impact we as professionals can have in those initial moments. The RTS training was presented brilliantly in a way that captivated all that attended and in future as incident commander I will be more aware and hopefully be able to give extra support to those affected including my own crews.