Georgie started with Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service in January 2024, and then joined the crew at Worcester Fire Station in April that year. Georgie has joined via the apprenticeship route, which involved a two-month residential course based at the Fire Service college in Moreton-in-Marsh.
“It’s a good route into the Service because you go over a lot of the basic skills and knowledge of being a Firefighter, as well as going to real incidents and being out and about. The training at the College supports the learning process of being on real life jobs. It’s great that at the end of the apprenticeship we get a qualification from it.”
Georgie has learnt a lot of practical skills since beginning her role as a Firefighter, which is not something she had developed much in previous roles. Her background was in call handling and dealing with sensitive and critical incidents over the phone. This has meant that she has joined the Service with a host of excellent communication skills and critical thinking, something which she believes has been an asset in her new role as a Firefighter.
“It was quite a big learning curve at first. I don’t have a massively practical background. I had a bit of knowledge of the emergency services and how they work, and I had a good understanding of handling trauma, but that was it. I didn’t have many practical skills; my dad never taught me how to use an impact driver!”
Since joining the Service Georgie has now expanded on her practical skills which has been beneficial to her, not just at incidents and around the Fire Station, but in her personal life as well.
“I used to handle tough and sensitive situations and have difficult of conversations over the phone which has become very useful to my role as a Firefighter as it’s not just fires we attend. We often have incidents where it’s important to be able to talk to members of the public and keep them calm in what can be a horrible day for them. Safeguarding is such an important element of this role, and I feel like I can bring those aspects of my old job into it.”
In her previous role Georgie gained an insight into the emergency services and discovered that a career in the Fire Service could be an option for her. She decided to apply, not thinking she would get in, but through each stage of the process she kept getting accepted. Georgie is enjoying her role as a Firefighter and is nearing the end of her apprenticeship, at which point she will become fully qualified in November 2025. She enjoys working within the community and supporting local people.
“I didn’t think I’d get in, I just applied. I went through the whole process just thinking, oh, next time I’ll be more confident having done this. And then I managed to get in, I didn’t expect it!”
Georgie is enjoying her role as a Firefighter and is nearing the end of her apprenticeship, at which point she will become fully qualified in November 2025. She enjoys working within the community and supporting local people.
“I think it’s nice going into talking to people. Especially the older people who live alone, you might be the only person they see that day and you can tell they really appreciate just having a chat as well as all the other stuff you talk about. It’s really nice whenever you see little girls and they get excited that there’s a lady firefighter. It was never a thing that I thought about, because there wasn’t that much representation when I was younger.””
Looking towards the future, Georgie wants to develop as many skills and qualifications as she can in her role. She has already been trained in the specialism of Water Rescue and often attends rescue incidents on the boat as part of the Swiftwater Rescue Team.
“I love going out on the boat. The SRT (Swiftwater Rescue Team) is one of my favourite things which is something I get to do being based in Worcester because of the location on the river.”
Georgie is looking towards becoming a blue light driver as her next step up in her career, but she is open to many other opportunities as well, such as Rope Rescue, learning to operate the Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP), or even becoming an Instructor later down the line.
“The great thing with career progression in the Service is it doesn’t have to always be going up. It can just be just improving and becoming a better asset to the Service. There are a lot of different skills and qualifications you can earn whilst being a Firefighter with Hereford and Worcester.”
Georgie’s Route Into the Service
Watch this video to find out about Georgie’s route into the Fire Service through the Apprenticeship Programme.
Georgie’s Future Career Goals
Watch this video to find out about what qualifications Georgie is aiming for in her Firefighter career.