Firefighter Review

Item: Firefighter at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue
Rating: 4.4
Author: Anonymous

at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Firefighter

Durham (County Durham)

Review Submitted: March 2025

Overall Rating

4.4 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

4/5 - Overview of Role

4/5 - Skills Development

4.4/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

4/5

My role as a firefighter consists of attending jobs and incidents when called upon. These could be fires, RTC's, rescues, water jobs or working at height jobs. When we aren't attending jobs we do community safety work which includes school visits, home fire safety visits and Business fire safety visits. We also do training to keep ourselves operationally ready, including gym time and operational training and theory training.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

4/5

I enjoy this apprenticeship a lot as it gives you different challenges every day which you need to adapt to. I have learned lots of different skills and met a lot of new people. It has given me a new confidence to try ner things.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

4/5

I have learned many new skills such as trauma care, working at height, HAZMAT, water rescue, RTC and BA training. I have also learned to engage and communicate with people more as we have to give talks to schools/ people quite regularly. I have gained confidence talking in front of people through this.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

4/5

The structure for this apprenticeship is very well done. It has specific set dates for when things need doing by and we are well aware of these long in advance. I always know what i need to be doing from good, clear instructions and if unsure on anything I have contacts for different people for different things.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

5/5

In this job I receive a lot of support from everyone at the service. These include my line manager, my crew and watch managers and also all the members on my watch. If I were to want any more supports i know i can request it from PAM assist which specifies in trauma support in case I was to be disturbed by something at an incident.

How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

4/5

When working to wards my qualifications I receive all the support I could want. I have all the dates set for me for when things need to be completed by and whenever I am unsure on something I am comfortable asking them the questions as I know they will send me a good response.

How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

4/5

The qualification will help me perform better as it is tailored to do that. Its designed so the points I need to cover and the work I need to do to gain my qualification will give me extra experience operationally and in the theory side of it. For example I need evidence of going to specific types of jobs, however if I font get the jobs I will partake in a drill which will cover that.

Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

5/5

Yes there are many activities you can do with the service. I take part in the golf society and the football team but i know there are even more than just that.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue to a friend?

Yes

Why?

Country Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service give you the opportunity to gain different kinds of experience in this job. Learning different skills than what you would at a normal job. I would highly recommend this service. It also has great training facilities to maintain operational readiness.

What tips or advice would you give to others applying to County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue?

I would say keeping fit is a big one. Learn about the service and learn what the service does outside of attending incidents as that is a big part of the job. Its good to know what you are signing up for and there is a lot that goes on apart from attending jobs. I would also recommend going down to a station and speaking to some of the crews about day to day.

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