Belgium has announced it is taking several steps to assist firefighters in the country, from stronger protection against episodes of violence to additional investments.
A total of 17,300 professional and volunteer firefighters are on standby in Belgium, not only to fight fires, but also to provide ambulance services for emergencies, assist in disasters, including following extreme weather, free victims, and many other often technical and specialised interventions.
While these tasks highlight that a well-functioning fire brigade is an important prerequisite for a safe society, various obstacles such as violence during interventions and an exponential increase in their workload, have made their jobs increasingly challenging.
Belgian Home Affairs Minister Annelies Verlinden announced on Thursday that Belgium will implement new measures to assist firefighters, including allowing the deployment of cameras during interventions.
Credit: Brussels Fire Brigade
"Unfortunately, firefighters' jobs have become increasingly difficult in recent years as they are more often treated aggressively or violently. Like police officers, they will now be better protected by various measures," Verlinden noted, adding she will create the legal framework for this, as is already in place for Belgian police officers.
Research has shown that a camera can not only ensure deescalation during incidents, but the images can also be used as evidence when emergency workers become victims of acts of violence.
"Blind violence against the people who are on call 24 hours a day must be vigorously combated. With a strengthening of the penalties for these acts, clear instruments for the emergency areas to deal with acts of violence and to accommodate their staff, and further work on the use of cameras, we have already taken some important steps," said Verlinden.
Other measures
To protect against aggression of first-line workers, including for paramedics dispatched alongside the fire brigade ambulance service, acts of violence will henceforth be punished more severely, as outlined in the new Penal Code.
Verlinden announced she would also be increasing resources for the emergency services with an additional €129 million in funding each year, supplemented with €18 million in 2023 due to the indexation. "This will support the local administrations and will allow the corps to continue investing in modern equipment and training."
She has also requested the necessary financial resources to finally tackle the structural staff shortages that have been choking emergency centres (where calls to the 101 and 112 emergency numbers are dealt with). Specifically, 85 additional recruitments are expected.
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Belgium will also establish a national fire brigade body at the end of this year, bringing together the expertise and knowledge from all corps so they can gain a better understanding of each other's often local problems and phenomena, think of forest fires or the challenge of extinguishing fires in high skyscrapers in cities. This corps will also support Home Affairs in policy matters, and in creating national standard procedures in operations.
Finally, two in three firefighters in Belgium are volunteers, making them indispensable. "Initiatives are therefore being taken to improve and strengthen their role and position within the zones," Verlinden noted.
