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The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) is to build clinics in all the regions to cater for the primary healthcare needs of its personnel and their families.
The initiative, which is in collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), will witness the putting up of the first clinic attached to the Ginger Barracks in Tema, in the Greater Accra Region.
The National Chief Fire Officer, Julius Kuunuor, made this known at a meeting between the National Fire Service Council and personnel of the Eastern Regional Command in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital last Friday.
The meeting was to allow the regional officers have better interaction with the members of the GNFS Board and also for them to share the challenges confronting the service in the region.
At the same event, a new building constructed by the retired officers of the service in the region for their meetings was inaugurated.
Mr Kuunuor said the first clinic at Tema would, in the coming years, be upgraded to become a Fire Trauma Hospital.
He said the whole programme would ensure that personnel of the service would have the best of treatment in all the regions.
The Chief Fire Officer said currently a Mobile Counselling Clinic was being operationalised by the Welfare Directorate and the various fire stations to counsel personnel with marital and family challenges to prepare them for retirement.
Such a counselling unit, Mr Kuunuor stated, had already been established at the headquarters of the service in Accra.
"The service shall give the necessary attention to the welfare of all personnel and civilians staff by putting in place measures to address key welfare issues such as occupational health and safety and general health care and counselling", he stated.
He also used the opportunity to explain the various happenings within the service such as promotion, the establishment of scholarship scheme for children of personnel who lost their lives in the course of duty, donations to bereaved families, posthumous promotions to personnel who died in action and recruitments.
With regard to training, Mr Kuunuor indicated that since the Fire Academy and Training School (FATS) was the only centralised institution for training the personnel, it was being upgraded with the required facilities.
However, he indicated, management of the service would be acquiring large parcels of land in all the 16 political and administrative regions to set up fire college's and training schools to ensure adequate manpower development for the service.
On in-service training, Mr Kuunuor stated that the service intended to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some of the local universities to train its personnel in the relevant fields from the undergraduate to postgraduate levels.
He pointed out that in view of that, this year various mandatory courses would be organised for personnel from the Fireman/Firewoman to the top management level.
The Eastern Regional Fire Officer, ACFO I Jennifer Naa Yarley Quaye, welcoming the council members, said her outfit lost eight of its personnel, responded to 779 emergency calls which was about 22 per cent of such calls in the previous years.
She said with a total staff strength of 1,530, comprising 378 senior officers, 1145 junior officers and served civilian workers, her outfit was able to conduct a fire safety inspection in various public buildings within the region.
The Chairman of the Fire Service Council Board, Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, said it was the duty of the council to come out with policies that would protect the personnel since their lives were on the line to serve the country.
Mr Antwi, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim Central, advised the officers to be disciplined at all times and assured the personnel that the council would do its best to ensure their welfare.
He, however, warned that the council would not hesitate to discipline any personnel who misconducted himself/herself.
