These jobs involve responding to unexpected situations.
The fire and rescue services respond to floods as well as fires. The police deal with crime and paramedics deal with medical emergencies. Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and HM Coastguard respond to incidents at sea, while mountain rescue deals with emergencies in remote, mountainous areas.
Some of the work aims to prevent emergencies, for example by reducing fire risks and antisocial behaviour. Many RNLI crew members and mountain rescue team members work as (highly trained) volunteers.
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Future careers
Because of a change in the type of threats that face the emergency services, a new generation of high-tech Incident Command Units is being introduced with improved mobile communications. This will require specialists in IT and engineering.
Things to consider
Things you may need to know:
- You will wear a uniform and/or specialist clothes.
- You will have training before you start the job. You will continue being trained throughout your career - there’s always something to learn!
- You need to be 18 to be a firefighter.
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