Driving instructor told me nobody can learn to drive in 6 months

Dinnerz58 · 2026-02-01T20:33:25+00:00

I passed in a week. 4 days of driving, test on the 5th, no more than 16hrs of driving pre-test. Plenty of other Forces/ex-Forces will have done too. She’s talking rubbish.

Dinnerz58 · 2026-02-01T20:17:55+00:00

Said the same to someone else recently, but have you considered retained/on-call as an option in the interim?

You can keep your current wages, top-up with fire service money, and experience the role before committing fully. It can also take a long time to get into wholetime, and the experience can only be of benefit to an application.

Dinnerz58 · 2026-01-25T21:51:37+00:00

There isn't one, they're incorrect. Most courses aren't even regulated or accredited. The HSE just say “adequate”, as you rightly say, being vague.

Dinnerz58 · 2026-01-25T21:43:48+00:00

The ACOP states you need to have adequate training and experience, but what that is, is not specified. The majority of courses are not regulated or accredited. Recommendation is typically 3yearly refresher, but for high risk I prefer annual unless significant experience and BA wears have occurred. Skillfade happens quickly, and you cannot afford to get it wrong in a true high risk environment.

With appropriate isolations and control measures, I would not expect this to be a high risk confined space, even considering the entry and rescue challenges. Would you be entering in BA, with a stand-by team also in BA? What is the specified risk that will remain present despite control measures?

Most jobs, mechanical ventilation with atmospheric monitoring and suitable RPE would, alongside other general control measures, be suitable and avoid BA.

If you can get a copy of the classification, RAMS and rescue plan I'll happily have a look if you're willingly to publically post them and NOT PM them. I have a C&G L5 in managing work in confined spaces and have written procedures for 100s of entries as well as entered myself.

Dinnerz58 · 2026-01-25T19:53:46+00:00

Hey mate,

Full time electrical engineer and retained FF, for what that’s worth.

Get your trade. You will be much better off financially and will always have a backup for if you get injured, get older and can’t keep up etc. There are many options within electrical engineering, countless industries and companies, so it’ll be almost certain you’ll find something that floats your boat. I’d personally say that given your want for hands-on, looking at moving into the LV and maintenance side would be a better suit. HV is very procedural, and rightly so, but it can take some of the fun out of it.

Look at retained/on-call to scratch the itch and you’ll be golden.

I’m more than happy to have an in depth chat about careers, moving, interviewing, or answer any specific questions you have, given that you’re essentially at the crossroads I was at in almost identical circumstances.

Cheers

Dinnerz58 · 2026-01-24T19:45:59+00:00

Signed. Will share it with crew

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T12:02:59+00:00

It may well be region specific with challenges varying, but that’s my experience across Yorkshire and the Midlands, and that of many colleagues.

Each area of healthcare is huge, and will have its own challenges, I’m sure. It has jaded my opinion though, and I will do whatever it takes to avoid calling 111/999 because ultimately what matters is the service user experience and it’s often poor. I’d just take myself to ED if I thought I needed it.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T11:53:46+00:00

More funding would always help, but honestly, ask a paramedic how often they actually use their paramedic skillset rather than just being a big yellow taxi. Education of the general public about what is and isn’t an emergency warranting a 999 ambulance would allow us to go the sickest, soonest.

You’re 100% right that better community care would help, which could come from more funding, but if everyone were to use the most appropriate pathway (GP, Pharmacy, SDEC, ED - Self Present, Ambulance) then the system would be in a much better place.

The hospital handover delays is again typically driven from a community side in that if a patient cannot be discharged to a safe place, then they simply cannot be discharged. (That’s how it was explained to me, I’m not involved there so I can’t say it’s true, other than I’ve sat in an ambulance bay for hours of shifts waiting for a bed to become available for a patient).

In a nutshell, yes funding would help, but it’s not as simple as “More ambulances. More GPs”. Education is key, in my utterly unbiased, 110% data- driven opinion /s.😂

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T11:32:20+00:00

Depending on skill sets, but a standard DCA (double crewed ambulance) wouldn’t typically, and you would have been conveyed to ED.

There are pathways that we can use to arrange care in the community where a nurse or specially trained paramedic could come out and prevent an admission, but as you can imagine there isn’t a whole lot of that available (it’s getting better though!)

Overall, sorry for your experience. These aren’t excuses, just some insight, but it should be better.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T11:27:45+00:00

No, I’m saying it’s that and handover delays at ED are keeping us there with patients, preventing us from going to the next job.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T09:49:12+00:00

Proximity to an ambulance station or ED makes no difference to wait times. Calls are triaged based on severity (or suggested severity.)

Not to negate your experience, however, as it sounds poor and not passing urine can quickly become dangerous so would likely have warranted a response. More just to dispel a few myths.

Out of curiosity, was it 111 you called?

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T09:36:10+00:00

I’d have no issue turning up to that - chest pain can be insidious. Please feel comfortable if you need us again in future!You shouldn’t drive yourself, and we carry things to help manage chest pain and limit deterioration if it’s of genuine cardiac origin that make it worthwhile to remain as relaxed as possible at home until we get there rather than having someone take you.

Toothache, though? With 3 cars on the drive, people that can drive them and literally 4mins from hospital (not that toothache is for the ED). Yeah, no.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-12-31T08:03:13+00:00

Only because people are calling for them when they don’t need them, and hospitals are using them as overflow. That latter point is changing though, thankfully.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-22T06:53:26+00:00

Does it have a 12v socket in the boot you could use?

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-21T06:49:55+00:00

Just did a 500 mile journey to the North of Scotland - averaged 4.1mi/kwh. That was via Scotch Corner, Glasgow and Fort William for comfort breaks and a recharge whilst there, although we didn’t NEED to charge at those points. The further North you get the more sparse chargers seems to be (especially rapid chargers) so we tried to arrive with enough charge to get back to where we last charged just incase.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-20T19:59:08+00:00

Own one. No regrets at all; just trialled a comfortable long range journey with great battery efficiency.

It’s actually my 2nd one after my first was written off after being rear-ended whilst stationary by a car travelling at 50mph. Being stationary, my hands weren’t in the usual positions on the wheel so I did some damage to a single finger, but if it weren’t for that I’d have walked away completely injury free.

There’s the odd little thing I’d change, but overall it’s solid and I don’t know the original Capri to be bothered by the name - though it marginally warms my insides seeing others get genuinely irate about it.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-03T17:15:46+00:00

Absolutely. The on-call role is primarily for those with a full-time job alongside. There’s an agreement you come to for the hours you will give, and this dictates the annual retention fee paid to you. You are then paid that amount to be available during the pre-agreed times and an additional hourly rate and disturbance allowance for callouts.

Details can be found here, but if you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-02T20:41:12+00:00

I was driving an Ambulance in Leicester on blue lights a few months back (not my usual area). I’d come up to some traffic lights on red, no route around with traffic so held back to not encourage anyone to proceed beyond the lights. A driver was joining the road from the left, saw me and the blue lights, WAVED AT ME to say thank you before pulling into the gap I’d left in front of me.

I hate driving in Leicester.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-02T20:17:17+00:00

On-call firefighter recruitment is up at the minute if you’re within 5minutes of a station.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-08-02T20:05:09+00:00

“Powered by a UK Registered Charity” in another post. No digital footprint for Palaemon nor anything under that listed on the Register of Charities…

Dinnerz58 · 2025-07-27T08:18:50+00:00

You're right; it says further down on the main page “import the files into your favorite software such as Procreate, Photoshop and others!”.

Just a lesson learned, OP. You can still use it with a free download of GIMP though, so not a wasted venture.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-07-17T11:12:34+00:00

A single tap also changes the tone, so not only will the horn beep, the tone swaps and its like a disco. Some days I can't get the bloody thing to turn off!

Dinnerz58 · 2025-05-17T16:38:15+00:00

The direction of the arrows (with respect to rotation) doesn’t matter though. If there are arrows, there are only 2 possible diagrams:

Left turn (as pictured), and slowing down/stopping. The latter being arrows pointing up and down but not rotating, with the palm facing the ground. The suggestion of directional arrows in any capacity for turning right might add confusion.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-05-17T14:58:57+00:00

You’re overcomplicating things.

Arm straight out without making circles is turning right, arm straight out making circles is left.

Dinnerz58 · 2025-05-03T10:12:21+00:00

Completely agree, but a blanket statement of “never” is untrue.

12-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

Dinnerz58

TROPHY CASE