The NZ Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) yesterday evening announced that all of NZ’s 111 Communications Centres attempting to operate at just 54% of the minimum number of staff required. The dire understaffing situation has continued today, as Fire & Emergency NZ (FENZ) has again failed to roster minimum required levels of staff for a second shift in a row.
The Northern, Central and Southern Communications Centres only had 4 personnel in total yesterday evening, well below the minimum, a figure determined by FENZ to be the absolute baseline of calltakers and dispatchers. A lone calltaker sat in each of the Central and Southern 111 Centres. With so few staff, a single Dispatcher had to oversee the entire South Island. Huge geographic dispatch areas have been merged in the North Island – there were half the number of dispatchers in Auckland and Wellington as there should be.
In this situation without sufficient staff, emergency 111 calls bounce around a virtual pool until one of 4 available calltakers nationwide is available to answer. The NZPFU states that breaks and toilet stops will be near-impossible.
Members are now reporting leave being declined, leave being cancelled – all because FENZ have failed to employ sufficient numbers of dispatchers. Members say the crisis inside the 111 centres is spiralling out of control:
“It’s pretty sad when you can’t take leave for special occasions.”
The NZPFU has also just reported that FENZ’s contingency for the Ōtāhuhu fire truck plagued with ongoing mechanical issues was to remove it completely from service today. Ōtāhuhu firefighters have been switching between replacement fire trucks for months. Today, the Ōtāhuhu fire truck has been taken offline because FENZ doesn’t have enough firefighters to crew it.
For the second day in a row, Porirua is also without its #2 career fire truck. Staff shortages in the city have forced the truck offline leaving just one career crew and volunteer firefighters. Further, the busiest fire truck in Wellington cannot be fully crewed today as FENZ has failed to employ sufficient numbers of firefighters.
