Fire Service staff receive specialist training to support colleagues bereaved families.  

The role of a family liaison officer can be a vital link for families when tragedy occurs in the workplace. They can be there at the most difficult of times to provide much needed support and advice.

This week, following a collaborative training project with Welsh charity 2 Wish Upon a Star, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service revealed a new network of officers who have been specially trained to perform the Family Liaison Officer (FLO) role for the Service.

The Family Liaison role, which is the very first formal role of its kind for the Service, centres on providing the highest standards of support to the families of colleagues where death tragically occurs while on duty or where it occurs outside of work, whether this is through accident or illness. This is alongside a range of other support that is provided to families including the Service’s Occupational Health Unit and Chaplain service.

The ten officers, who work in communities across South Wales, have successfully completed a three module training programme with 2 Wish Upon a Star who provide immediate and ongoing bereavement support for individuals, families and professionals affected by the sudden death of someone under the age of 25.

The training was delivered at Barry Emergency Services Station and the new Family Liaison Officers were this week presented with certificates by Chief Fire Officer Huw Jakeway QFSM and Rhian Mannings MBE, Founder and Chief Executive of 2 Wish Upon a Star recognising their achievement.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Crew Manager David Crews, Lead Officer for the Services’ Mental Health Programme, said: “Our liaison officers are present at the most sensitive, personal and traumatic time in a person’s life. The role requires compassion and personal resilience, but the result is rewarding in that you may have in some small way made someone’s life easier during one of the most difficult period of their life.  We want to ensure that we treat the families of our colleagues appropriately, professionally, with respect and in accordance with their diverse needs.

Although the officers aren’t therapists and counsellors, many families do find the additional help and support invaluable.”