Written about us

A New Challenge to Meet by Power Plant Firemen

The life of Power Plant’s knights of flame has always been marked by a permanent change, the unquenchable thirst for the new and a never-flagging ardour to meet challenges of our era. That’s what is going on there now. The new thing is that our firemen should also take part in taking emergency care of wounded employees on the premises of Paks Nuclear Power Plant Zrt., using an ambulance van to get there in a short while. This job has been part and parcel of the scope of their normal activities as from 27 September 2005.

Our Fire Brigade is not only to make the ambulance van available but also should take an active part in rescue operations as prescribed in Decree no. 5/2006 Ministry of Health. The ambulance van has been fitted with up-to-date ambulance equipment and instrumentation. According to the provisions of the Decree, a van should be manned with personnel made up of an ambulance doctor or officer and two ambulance technicians.

Fire Chiefs of the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Brigade do their best to demonstrate their staff’s excellent professional qualifications. All power plant firemen have, without exception, medium first aid certificates. 33 of the total strength have basic and 3 advanced ambulance technician’s qualifications. Training of another group of 30 in what a trained ambulance technician should know is scheduled to the year 2006.

In addition to compulsory advanced training courses, classroom training and practical exercises are organized and conducted by duty ambulance doctors and officers from the National Ambulance Service (OMSZ) on a monthly basis. Acquisition of knowledge and regular checks of our firemen’s skills are equally important, therefore they have to take an examination, to give proof of what they have learnt, before a board of competent examiners from OMSZ, Institute for Basic and Continuing Education of Health Workers (ETI) and Hungarian Red Cross every year.

Up to now we have positive experience only. It can be stated that the ambulance officers and doctors have become familiar with the everyday work of, as well as the means and equipment used by, our firemen. Now, they also put on protective clothing and breathing apparatus to enter, so dressed and equipped, the accident or fire scene. The same holds good for the firemen. They’ve gained lots of experience in taking care of the wounded and sick, and they really use these skills in the real life.

Integration of this new activity line in the firemen’s daily work routine is not an unprecedented process since formerly they had to become proficient in the ways and means of making an active contribution to elimination of operational disturbances, not to mention fire fighting and damage prevention activities, in rescue operations to save people from high/deep places and elevators, fastening of loads, handling of poisons and so on – that is why they show a high degree of adaptability in accommodation to the new situation.

Hopefully, their work will continue to be hallmarked by persistence and good results.

by Mrs. Anna Lovászi
Tűzvédelem, 7th issue, 2006