Galway County Council is embarking on a recruitment and selection campaign for the creation of a panel for the position of Fulltime Fire Fighter. A panel will be formed and vacancies arising will be filled in accordance with the provisions of WRC Agreement - Ref: c-165739/21.
Galway County Council is responsible for the provision of Fire and Rescue and a Fire Prevention service to Galway City and County on a shared service basis. The Council now requires fulltime fire fighter(s) for its fulltime Fire and Rescue team.
The common image of the Fire and Rescue Service is naturally one of fire-fighters turning out in fire appliances and fighting fires. It is true, of course, that some of the work involves attendance at fires, but the role of the Fire and Rescue Service is much wider and the needs of the community much more varied.
Galway Fire and Rescue Service responds to all emergency calls from the public for assistance, primarily to protect life and save injury to individuals, but also to prevent and restrict damage to property. Many emergency calls, however, are not to fires, but to incidents where members of the community are trapped in vehicles following road traffic accidents, trapped in machinery, or trapped in less life-threatening circumstances, as well as being called to chemical spillages, toxic emissions and river rescues.
To deliver this service to the public the Fire and Rescue Service has to develop operational plans, including the provision of adequate water supplies for firefighting; ensure that effective arrangements exist to receive emergency ‘999’ calls and mobilise resources; implement effective operational communication systems throughout the Fire and Rescue Service; enforce, promote and encourage fire safety within the City and County by programmes of inspection and publicity; conduct effective training to develop the skills and abilities of personnel; and provide, maintain and repair its premises, vehicles, plant and equipment.
Fully qualified fire-fighters are skilled experts capable of using the most modern equipment, methods and techniques to undertake the full range of duties such as firefighting, rescue, attendance at road traffic accidents and other emergencies. The fire-fighter’s working life and training is geared to responding safely and effectively to emergency calls, regardless of weather conditions or the time of day or night.
Every time fire-fighters are called to the scene of an emergency; they must be prepared to deploy each and every skill in which they have been trained. When they arrive at an incident as part of a team under the command of an Officer, they may individually have to absorb a great deal of information rapidly and apply the skills they have learned in conditions which will often be extremely dangerous and confusing. Despite all the training given in preparation for such incidents, however, fire-fighters will from time to time be faced with new situations where they may individually be required to provide the answers using previous experiences as a guide.
Fire-fighters wearing breathing apparatus, feeling their way through a smoke-filled building with toxic hazards, in order to effect a rescue, cannot ask for instructions. In order to function effectively in emergencies every fire-fighter’s pre-eminent characteristics must be those of -
- courage
- physical strength
- the capacity for rapid, intense and sustained effort
- an unquestioning acceptance of orders at emergencies
- capacity to use initiative when alone
- the skilled fire fighters complete and automatic familiarity with the equipment and tools of the profession (which may range up to major items of plant such as hydraulic platform or aerial skylift appliance)
- a practical understanding of the basis of a wide range of subjects necessary to anticipate and overcome hazards
- sympathy towards victims of emergencies
- ability to carry on in what may occasionally be emotionally harrowing circumstances.
Each candidate must have obtained at least Grade D (or a pass) in five subjects, including Mathematics and English, from the approved list of subjects in the Department of Education & Skills Junior Certificate Examination or in an examination of at least equivalent standard.
If you progress in the competition, you will be required to submit your original qualifications which will be copied and returned to you immediately. Please ensure that if you received your education qualifications outside of Ireland that you have the level of your qualifications confirmed by the Irish National Frameworks of Qualifications at www.qqi.ie and submit such confirmation with your original qualifications when requested to do so.
In selection of candidates, additional marks may be awarded to those who have any of the following:-
- a higher educational qualification than that prescribed above e.g. Leaving Certificate
- experience of driving heavy vehicles
- technical or trades training.
Further Information is available in the Candidate Information Booklet available on our website.
