Today, Chief Fire Officer Justin Johnston welcomed the Fire Minister, Lord Greenhalgh to St John’s vaccination clinic in Preston and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s headquarters.
At the vaccination site, Lord Greenhalgh met volunteers who had helped deliver and administer vaccinations across Lancashire since December 2020. Lord Greenhalgh heard from the volunteers about the reasons why they have volunteered and how they have helped keep patients safe and warm when they have been arriving at vaccination clinics.
Later in the day, the Fire Minister had lunch at our Service Headquarters with members of the staff who are former members of the armed services. Following this, he was taken on a tour of the service’s headquarters before seeing a demonstration of the stinger appliance from Skelmersdale and the wildfire burn team from Bacup.
Chief Fire Officer Justin Johnston said:
“I was delighted to welcome Lord Greenhalgh to Lancashire today and give us the opportunity to show him how the service has contributed to making Lancashire safer during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have had over 300 employees volunteer to help the communities of Lancashire and so far, we have helped support over 410,000 vaccinations in Lancashire, whilst our staff have administered over 45,000 vaccinations.
“Whilst at our headquarters, we showed Lord Greenhalgh how we have continued to respond to incidents during the pandemic and our innovation which has led to the introduction of the wildfire burn team and stinger appliances.
“I am really proud of how the service has responded during the pandemic and it was nice to share our stories with Lord Greenhalgh.”
Lord Greenhalgh said:
“Firefighters and fire staff across the country have worked incredibly hard to support the response to coronavirus and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is an exceptional example.
“The team in Lancashire have led the way, becoming the first fire service in the country to assist the NHS with the distribution of the vaccine and also to fully train their staff as vaccinators.
“By doing so, they have shown that those in fire services are ready, willing and able to go above and beyond to keep the British public safe, once again demonstrating they truly are the very best of us.
“It was an honour to meet with the team in Lancashire and I am immensely proud of their efforts and all the work they doing to keep us safe.”