EAST Herts residents are being put at risk by changes in the fire service's response to road accidents, union members claim.

The Emergency Rescue Tender (ERT) vehicle, which carries a wide range of specialised equipment, is automatically sent to accidents where people are trapped and have to be released.

But Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is now planning to send the vehicle out to certain accidents only after crews have decided that casualties cannot be rescued without such equipment.

Fire Brigade Union (FBU) members believe this will waste precious time and greatly reduce the chances of survival of anyone trapped.

Hertfordshire Fire Brigade secretary Andy Mclean said: "It should be borne in mind that these will always be the very worse of accidents often involving extremely serious and horrific injuries.

"Any delay in removing casualties from wreckage, relieving pressure from body parts, etc, will reduce the chances of survival."

But Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service chiefs have assured residents that the tender will still be automatically dispatched to incidents involving heavy goods vehicles or water-related accidents.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Peter Hazeldine said: "The ERT will still be sent out straight away to incidents involving heavy goods vehicles, such as a collision involving a lorry and a car, which are the very worst kinds of accidents.

"But the majority of incidents can be dealt with using the equipment carried on the fire station's first appliance."

The ERT helps release people from incidents such as car crashes and building collapses and is crewed by firefighters with specialist knowledge.

Based at Hatfield fire station, it is the only vehicle of its kind in the county.

Mr Hazeldine added that the most serious accidents, involving cutting people from vehicles, can take 999 crews from an hour to two hours to complete, so a delay of a few minutes would not be detrimental.

He said: "In five minutes the fire engine can do the majority of work with Lucas cutting equipment which every station in Hertfordshire has."

But the FBU claims that by reducing the service it provides, the fire service is going against its previous aim of ensuring that the county's one remaining tender was adequately crewed.

FBU chairman for Hertfordshire Iayn Thomas said: "When the Garston ERT was withdrawn in 1990, public concern was quelled by appointing firefighters to ensure the only remaining rescue tender would always be available."

The latest changes, he said, meant that the promises had come to nothing.

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