FRV Capabilities
What specialist response do professional career firefighters provide to the community?
- Rapid and professional response to all fires including structure/house/building fires and grass and scrub/wildfires – from Melbourne CBD, to regional cities, to the rural/urban interface
- Emergency Medical Response (EMR)
- Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)
- High Angle Rescue (HART)
- Heavy Rescue
- Road Crash Rescue Support
- Confined Space Rescue
- Trench Rescue
- HAZMAT
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Response
- Marine Response
- Air Operations including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
- Rapid Impact Assessment (RIAT) including Ground Observers
- Industrial Rescue
Did you know that professional career firefighters co-respond with Ambulance Victoria?
The response time criteria for professional career firefighters are strict, which means that professional career firefighter response to emergency calls is both rapid and reliable.
The Emergency Medical Response (EMR) program is a life-saving program involving Professional Career Firefighters responding to time-crtical medical emergencies. This response results in early intervention to maximise the potential of maintaining life. The EMR program has proven to save lives.
All FRV professional career firefighters receive extensive training to undertake EMR and all Professional Career Firefighters must undertake scheduled yearly skills maintenance and re-certification.
The program is a joint one between Fire Rescue Victoria and Ambulance Victoria for FRV/AV co-response to an agreed set of “Priority 0” medical emergencies.
What are “Priority 0” Medical Emergencies?
“Priority 0” medical emergencies are the most urgent class of events where a patient is unconscious, not breathing or has no pulse. Since 2001, professional career firefighters in metropolitan Melbourne have been trained to perform EMR and respond to EMR calls. This followed for professional career firefighters in outer metropolitan and regional cities of Victoria that are protected by professional career firefighters such as Caroline Springs, Pakenham and Wodonga.