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11th February, 2024 - 12.57pm: We were called to the M4 westbound between J15 and J16 for a car well ...Read more

10th February, 2024 - 2.23pm: We were called to assist two people who were stuck about 10m above the...Read more

8th February, 2024 - 1.59pm: A large quantity of food grade golden syrup was spilled on the road. T...Read more

6th February, 2024 - 09.16: Fire crews from Stratton St Margaret and Swindon were called to a dome...Read more

5th February, 2024 - 5.33pm: A crew from Dorchester were called to Dick O' Th' Banks Road following...Read more

Eyesight and medical

As part of your application to become an on-call firefighter, you will be asked to provide medical and health information at an early stage so we can ensure that you are fit and well enough to take part in our assessments.

It will also be necessary for you to undergo an eyesight test and medical examination later in the recruitment process.

For your eyesight test, you will be asked to attend an appointment with one of our approved opticians, who will assess your vision in line with our eyesight entry standards – visual acuity, colour vision and field of vision – and advise the Service of any visual difficulties detected. If you have any concerns about your eyesight, you may wish to attend your local Specsavers prior to this stage of the recruitment process; any costs will be reimbursed when you are employed by us. Please contact HR for the paperwork to take to the opticians.

For your medical examination, which includes a hearing test, you will be invited to attend one of our Occupational Health Units.

Eyesight standards

For your eyesight test, you will be asked to attend an appointment with your local Specsavers opticians, who will assess your vision in line with our eyesight entry standards. A form will be provided to you which the optician must complete, and you will need to send back to the Service before attendance at your occupational health physician appointment. Our required standards are as follows:

Medical assessment

The medical will include:

Additionally, you will be asked questions about your general health and any disabilities/medical needs you may have (a medical questionnaire will need to be completed prior to your attendance). An Occupational Health Technician will conduct the necessary tests.

This will be followed up (not necessarily straightaway but on the same day) with an appointment with the Occupational Health Physician, who will review the test results, undertake any further testing (if required) and provide a medical decision on your fitness for operational duties.

Please note, prior to this decision (and largely dependent on your test results and clinical information you have disclosed) the physician may require your consent to liaise with any specialists or treating teams you have or had. Alternatively, you may be referred back to your GP for further tests to be conducted on the NHS. In such cases, a decision regarding your fitness will remain pending until the Occupational Health Physician has all the information needed to enable them to make a clinical informed decision.

We receive many enquiries from applicants during recruitment regarding current and/or past medical issues. Unfortunately, we cannot give definitive guidance regarding individual issues as all clinical matters require consultation with the Occupational Health Physician and GPs/treating teams for them to decide whether an applicant is suitable to carry out the role of a firefighter. All cases will be considered on an individual basis.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act, we do not divulge any medical information to anyone outside of occupational health without your written consent.

Hearing standards

Applicants for firefighting who meet the H2 standard should be considered fit for role. Applicants who score lower than H2 may be required to undertake additional functional testing before a decision on fitness can be determined.

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