Become a Retained Firefighter
The Retained Duty System (RDS) consists of part time
firefighters who provide a vital service to the communities in
which they live or work.
Most of them are women and men whose primary employment is in
another field, but in addition to that, they provide the full range
of emergency service as their wholetime colleagues in some of
Strathclyde's smaller or more rural towns.
To become an RDS Firefighter, you should:
- Be eligible to work in the UK and be 18 years of age or
over.
- Preferably live within one mile and work within two miles of or
work within 5 minutes of the nearest RDS station.
- Be available to respond to emergency calls via a pager from
home or your place of work at any time of the day or night.
- Have the express permission of your primary employer to become
an RDS Firefighter (form enclosed in pack).
- Be committed to providing an important emergency service within
your community.
- Be committed to attend a 3-hour training session at your local
fire station one night per week.
- Be available to attend a two-week training course at the
Scottish Fire Service College at Gullane and a few months later,
attend a further one-week training course at our Training Centre in
Glasgow. These events are aimed at providing you with the
basic training needed to start your role as an RDS
Firefighter. Your ongoing training and development will be
provided at your local fire station.
Successful candidates will be subject to a Disclosure Scotland
criminal record check.
