“The most rewarding thing is knowing that the advice that I have given will help keep someone safe in the event of a fire...
...and that providing smoke alarms to give an early detection to a potential fire within the home may enable someone to exit their property safely.”
Sarah Shepherd works for the Prevention Team at Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. She joined the service, initially, in 2017 in the Transport and Technical Department before moving to Prevention a year later. In her role, she carries out a wide range of important safety duties in the community, including Safe and Well visits, fitting smoke alarms, attending road safety events and educating school pupils on fire safety.
Sarah explains how she first moved into the role:
“When I joined WFRS, I was part of the Transport and Technical Department. This role involved supplying operational staff with all of the equipment, appliances and resources to enable them to carry out their duties. Whilst delivering items to Bedworth Fire Station, I had a conversation with a member of the Prevention Team about the work they were doing and realised it was something that I was interested in. In 2018, a vacancy within the team came up; I applied for it, was successful and I have been there ever since.”
Sarah goes into more detail about what her role entails:
“I carry out a range of duties including Safe and Well visits - which help people to stay safe and reduce the risk of fire in their homes. I also help with road safety events, checking things such as child car seats being fitted correctly. I go into schools and deliver fire safety messages to children in Years 1 and 5 and arson awareness to pupils in Year 7. I also attend sessions at local venues for children who are educated at home.
“My role involves fitting fire safety specialist equipment, such as hard of hearing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, which enable people who wear hearing aids in the day but not at night to alert them of the smoke alarms being activated so that they can take action. I will assess people in their homes who may require specialist fire-retardant equipment (bedding, self-extinguishing bins, throws for chairs and sofas).
“I am also the lead for hoarding within the Service and work with partner agencies to offer advice and support. I deliver training to partner agencies to promote fire safety messages and hoarding awareness information to enable them to refer into the service for a Safe and Well check.
“On top of that I work with operational crews to provide support with their community activities and provide them with resources in order to carry out their role.”
When asked about her role as the lead for hoarding, and how she supports people, Sarah explains:
“I work with other agencies to support those with hoarding behaviour in a sensitive, person-centred way, looking at the person rather than the hoard and listening to what support they need.
As part of our Safe and Well visits, if we encounter a hoarded property, we will explain the risks in a sensitive manner and work with them in order to make exits clearer if they allow. I also liaise with agencies to look at funding to support with de-cluttering when the person is ready.
“I will work with the agencies to provide fire safety advice in relation to hoarded properties which they can implement to keep a person safe. We will also carry out follow up visits to ensure that the person is receiving the support that they need and keep that care going long after that first visit.”
We asked Sarah what a typical day in the life of a Prevention Officer looks like….
“My first job in the morning is to check my calendar to see what appointments I have for the day and the vehicle I will be using. I will then check my emails to make sure that there is nothing urgent that needs to be followed up.
“Next, I’ll make sure that I have all of the equipment necessary to carry out my role, to complete vehicle checks and to carry out my Safe and Well visits. In between visits I may have meetings which I attend relating to fire safety, training or to support with the team’s plan.
“During the day, I will meet a variety of people including residents within Warwickshire, their friends and family and professionals. As part of my Safe and Well visit, I may need to make referrals into other services – which might include Adult Social Care, Age UK, Falls Prevention Service or Act on Energy - for them to assess their needs and provide additional support where needed.
“Once a Safe and Well visit has been completed, I will document the results onto our systems as a record of the visit and our actions and make any referrals as needed.”
Sarah then went on to describe the biggest challenges that she faces in her role:
“One of the biggest obstacles that I face within my role as Community Fire Safety Officer is maintaining your emotional resilience. Some of the visits that are carried out to our most vulnerable members of our community can be challenging and it is important that we recognise this and seek out support from our colleagues and occupational health service if needed.”
Despite those challenges, there are many positive aspects to Sarah’s work that she enjoys:
“Knowing that your visit and signposting for additional support will make positive changes for that person makes it rewarding and you know that you have made a difference to someone’s life.
“Another rewarding aspect is knowing that you may have made someone safer, be it clearing an escape route to allow a person to get out of their home more quickly if needed, or to see the results of a home which has been hoarded, de-cluttered at a pace to suit the person and enabling them to celebrate their success.
“It’s also great to be able to work on more specialised projects that support some of the more vulnerable members of our community which has, in turn, enabled me to develop my knowledge in relation to hoarding and undertake training in this subject. This training has potentially put us in a position from January 2024 to offer Hoarding Support Groups across Warwickshire - for those either experiencing hoarding or who have family/friends who are supporting somebody who hoards.”
Sarah finishes by explaining further the support her role gives to vulnerable people across the County:
“The role of a Community Fire Safety Officer is important as we deliver vital fire safety information to everyone across Warwickshire in their homes, recognising and referring to other agencies and working together to promote people’s choices and independence.
“By providing our partner agencies with fire safety awareness sessions, we are enabling them to identify risks and refer to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service in order for us to meet with our communities, provide valuable fire safety advice, identify trends relating to fire safety and respond accordingly.
“The fitting of smoke alarms, and the provision of other risk-reducing equipment such as fire-retardant bedding or self-extinguishing bins make you feel that you have made a difference to that person’s life. You have been able to provide them with information, equipment and advice which will help them to remain safe and well in their home.”
To find out more about the work of Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Prevention team and information on fire safety in the home, visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fire-safety-home.
If you would like a safe and well visit, or know someone who would benefit from a visit, head to https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fire-safety-home/apply-safe-well-visit.