Vision

Mission

Division: Operations

Fire Fighting

• This constitutes combating fire at structures from small informal housing all the way to the largest multi-storey buildings found in Ekurhuleni.
• Commercial and industrial buildings are also catered for, often requiring larger and more sophisticated vehicles and equipment.
• Veld and vegetation fire keep our fire fighters very busy during the winter months.  Some of these fires are preventable and land owners actually have a legal responsibility to keep their land in a state that it does not pose an unacceptable fire risk.

Rescue Services

Handling of Hazardous Material Incidents

Rendering Ambulance Services

Humanitarian Services

• It must be said that the Emergency Services are usually the people that tend to be running into emergencies when other people are evacuating from them.  Our fire fighters get to attend to various incidents where people need help and that does not typically look like something that the fire and rescue services would normally do.
• Often during natural incidents, like local flooding or high winds the emergency services will participate in making the area safe or helping with evacuation of the affected people.  It has happened that assistance with the relief activities is also given.

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Division: Codes (Fire Prevention & Safety)

Approval of Fire Protection Building Plans

• All commercial, industrial, high density residential and places of public assembly buildings that are constructed have to comply with national legislation, which include requirements for fire fighting equipment and safety of the people that enter those buildings.  In some cases private dwellings also have requirements that have to be adhered to.
• Plans are submitted to the fire safety offices where they are perused to ensure that the required fire safety elements will be part of the development, even from an early planning stage.

Conduct Fire Safety Inspection

• As building projects progress the sites are visited by the fire safety inspectors, making sure that the elements that were shown on the plans are being adhered to.  There are also a final inspection that is done, before the building is allowed to be used.
• All the existing building require occasional attention, to ensure that safety is being maintained by the owner of the building and the current occupants.

By-Law enforcement (Fire Related)

• In the event that some of the requirements, mentioned above, is not adhered to the fire safety officials are able to issue fines and take legal action.  This is done on the same principles that traffic officials have been giving fines for ages.
• Fire safety officials may only take action in terms of the Emergency Services By-Laws, which were published and finalized recently.

Participating in development of standards

• Ekurhuleni’s Emergency Services have been a very active participant in the developments regarding South African National Standards, which are published by the SABS.
• Participation ranges from standards on fire extinguishers, building control elements all the way to standards on the handling of hazardous biological waste.
• Members of the service also participate in creating legislation on local, provincial and national levels.

Conduct Fire investigations

• Any time that a fire breaks out there must have been a series of events that lead up to it.  This part of the job is where a little bit of CSI type activity comes in.
• The fire safety officials receive training in conducting fire cause determinations.  Applying some archaeology principle, an understanding of how fire work, a sprinkling of science and interviewing techniques it is expected that the origin and perhaps also the cause of a fire can be found out.
• It becomes important to build knowledge on the causes of fires as this can help in preventing future incidents, based on new information gained from the scene of the fire.

Handling of Dangerous Goods and Flammable Liquids/ Gasses permits

• Registering premises and transporters of dangerous goods and flammable substances firstly provides a chance to ensure that these premises and vehicles comply with minimum safety standards.
• It also aids in the service preparing for possible incidents. This is because the register of products will inform the service what is type and quantity of dangerous chemicals present in the city, on sites and in trucks, at any one time.

Routine Inspection on Major Hazard Installations

• Major Hazard Installations are industries where the quantity and type of chemicals and products present could possible adversely affect the general population outside the boundaries of their premises.
• Inspections at these sites are very similar to those at any other site, but with no margin of error allowed for.

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Division: Emergency Planning

Planning for Major and Special Events

Planning for Safety at Sports and Recreational Events

• Following the same principles as for special events and with the 2010 Soccer World Cup as a future reality the Risk Management Staff also ensure that these events are held in a safe manner.
• These events bring about interaction between several sectors both within the Metro environment and also from outside roll-players.
• National legislation and codes of practises are in the pipeline, which will be valuable in determining what the minimum safety standards should be.

Risk and Vulnerability Mapping/Profiling

• Incidents at large industrial complexes will have a different impact on the community than a normal residential house where only one bedroom has caught fire.  Knowing where the highest risks are aids in determining what resources to deploy where.
• This knowledge also informs the service regarding what training is required for its members.

Emergency Plans for Major Hazardous Installation

• To be prepared for incidents is of great importance.  Where these large risks are involved special attention is given to establishing and recording pre-incident plans.
• These plans will inform the responders regarding what hazards they expect, what precautions are to taken, what actions is required, the number and type of equipment to be used, how to inform the public that might be affected and a number of other elements.

Public Information, Education and Relations (PIER)

• The PIER Unit has the responsibility to inform and educate the inhabitants of Ekurhuleni regarding the prevention of incidents.  This is based in the premise that prevention is better than cure.
• It might sound like an oxymoron, but the Emergency Services would certainly prefer that none of the people in Ekurhuleni would ever need their re-active response.  While this will remain an unachievable goal every effort is made to educate the community on staying safe from emergencies, what to do in the case of an emergency and even how they can help others stay safe.

Compliance Auditing after chemical incidents

• Once a HAZMAT incident has occurred there are chemicals and products that will require being cleaned up and disposal.  This disposal can only be done at special dump site, where human, animal and environment harm is eliminated.
• The Risk Management Unit will ensure that all legislative prescripts are followed and that all the correct procedures are adhered to.

Handling of Media Related Matters

• Many of the incidents that are attended to draw public interest.  The Emergency Services have a spokesperson that is responsible for interaction with the media and to communicate factual information to the community.
• Media liaison will also send out public information items regarding future events of the service, safety announcements and matters of interest.

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Division: Emergency Medical Services

Provision of Advanced Life Support

Management of Memorandum of Agreement

• The MoU is between the province and Ekurhuleni and describes the minimum number of ambulances and staff that should be available to perform basic and advance emergency medical services.
• At every shift change this is measured by the operational co-ordinators and reported to the EMS management structures.

Continued Medical Education

Ensuring Occupational Health Compliance

• In compliance with legislation and council policy the emergency services conduct OHS activities, always seeking to ensure a safe working environment for its members.
• As part of the SANS 10090 standard that was adopted the service uses an international guide to measure how safe the workplace is for fire fighters.
• Remember that the law’s definition of workplace is the place where you perform your duties.  For a fire fighter this means over and above the fire station all the rescue, fire and medical scenes that are attended to.

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Division: Traning

Training needs analysis

• In every work environment it is required that there should be planning in place regarding the training and education of staff.  The training academy has set up a plan that addresses the needs of all the staff at Emergency Service, inclusive of administrative and support staff.
• As can be imagined most of the training is specific to the preparation of fire fighters and emergency medical workers, but it also extends to elements like AIDS awareness, computer literacy and other skills that is so essential in modern society.

Development of Training courses

• The training landscape changes continually.  New subject matter and skills have to be conveyed to learners and the training section has the responsibility to develop new courses for this.
• At times a specific training need will be communicated for which the academy can then tailor make suitable material and instruction.

Maintaining the accreditation of the Academy

• Ekurhuleni Emergency Services Training Academy is accredited, through the South African Emergency Services Institute, with the International Fire Services Accreditation Committee.
• This accreditation information is also utilized when local unit standard and qualifications are establishes through the Fire and Rescue standards generating body.

Management of Learnership

• The academy takes on learners as part of the learneship programs that are run under the banner of national skills development.
• These learners are provided with training and a chance to experience the workplace and activities of a fire fighter.

Provide Training

• All the previous elements indicate a large responsibility, but core to their function is that courses are conducted all year round.
• Training includes the presentation of lecture, performing practical skills and eventually doing assessments on the learning that had taken place (all the time keeping the administration and recordkeeping up to date).
• Some of the courses that are available:
  • Fire Fighter I & II
  • Hazmat Awareness
  • Hazmat Operations
  • Fire Services Instructor I
  • Fire Officer I
  • Basic Fire Fighting
  • First Aid
  • Urban Search and Rescue
  • In-house Courses.

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