The Luxembourg city fire and ambulance emergency services have announced details of their activities during 2015 which cost over €20 million to support.

The Ville de Luxembourg engages 195 employees (up 29 from 1 Jan 2015) who provide a 24-hour service (average age is 35 years) across a range of emergency services including emergency and rescue, fire, flooding and road accidents.

Of the 189 professional firefighters, 36 trainees were recruited following a call launched in September 2014, and have now covered basic training covering theoretical (physics, chemistry, mechanics, electricity, radio broadcasting, etc.) and practical (exercises in extinguishing fire or rope descent, fitness, preventive visits to buildings, internships in hospitals, etc.) components, within a total 25-month period after which they will be deployed on the operational team.

Statistics

In 2015, the Fire and Ambulance Service conducted 17,249 interventions, compared to 17,188 in 2014, 17,109 in 2013 and 14,933 ten years ago in 2005; the number of interventions is generally increasing over the last decade.

- Ambulance Interventions: Last year, most interventions (15,172 or 87.95%) consisted of ambulance call-outs. Among these interventions, the number of ambulance emergencies increased by 213 compared to the previous year (from 13,101 in 2014 to 13,314 in 2015), while the number of ambulance transportations was down on recent years (2,194 in 2013; 2,016 in 2014; 1,858 in 2015). Regarding the geographic spread of ambulance call-outs, most took place in the station district (1,630), followed by Bonnevoie (1,410), Kirchberg (1202), the city centre (1,201) and Limpertsberg (916). Furthermore, city ambulances were called out on more than 4,100 occasions outside the city, particularly in the neighbouring towns and on the motorway.

- Fire and Rescue Interventions: In 2015, the Fire and Ambulance Service conducted 1,621 emergency or rescue operations (9.39%) and 435 fire interventions (2.64%). Most interventions for fire and rescue were carried in the capital, including the city centre (248), the station district (189), Bonnevoie (148), Belair and Kirchberg (136), as well as Limpertsbierg and Hollerech (114). Outside the city, the Fire and Ambulance Service intervened more than 350 times, almost 100 times on the motorway.

- Prevention: Last year, the Fire and Ambulance Service Prevention Office consisted of 7 people. This office is responsible, among others, for "primary prevention" in the framework of permits for building construction projects and transformations, and "secondary prevention", including contingency planning against sinister causes and security measures. In 2015, 120 projects were analysed and they advised more than 85 intervention plans for institutions and events; in addition, various projects have been developed.

- Training: To ensure quick and effective interventions, the Fire and Ambulance Service attaches great importance to the training of its staff. During 2015, the staff conducted 60 courses, including 41 domestic and 19 overseas, corresponding to 1,111 hours of training in total. Internships and training particularly focused on driving safety, equipment maintenance, prevention, disinfection, trauma management, rescue from a depth or height, or the response to a terrorist attack.

- Finance: the total budget of the city's Fire and Ambulance Service for 2016 is €21.8 million, of which €20.65 million goes on salaries. On the income side, they have an income of €2.1 million (€3.336 million in 2016 budget), of which €1.8 million is from ambulance charges. The state subvention, which was zero in 2014, was €200k in 2015 and will be €1.456 million in 2016.

Photo by Charles Soubry, Phototheque VDL