Rescue operation | Builder Jouni Leskinen is ready to plunge into the flames at any time – The life of many Finns rests on the shoulders of people like him

Jouni Leskinen, 34, walks out of his workplace in Keitele’s sawmill in work clothes. It’s a September Tuesday afternoon in Keitele in Pohjois-Savo.

The working day has ended, but Leskinen does not go straight home, but pedals his bike to the fire station next to the Keitele Group sawmill.

Leskinen, who works as a construction worker, has a hobby that takes up a large part of his everyday life. He is a volunteer member of the fire department, i.e. a firefighter who comes to work when necessary.

So if there is a fire or an accident in the municipality or nearby area, Leskinen goes to help. He is ready to work in the evenings, at night and during the day, because he has the employer’s permission to go out on calls even in the middle of the working day.

On Tuesday, Leskinen is also a voluntary reserve. At the end of his working day, he picks up an emergency phone and a fire department car from the fire station. Until the next morning, Leskinen is the first to be alerted to go.

In the countryside the rescue operation relies heavily on volunteers, and contract fire brigades that come to work if necessary. Local contracted fire brigades are usually the first to arrive in an emergency, as professional fire brigades are far away in big cities.

In Finland, there are approximately 15,000 contract firemen who participate in alarm tasks but whose main job is outside of rescue operations. There are more than 830 fire stations in Finland. Almost 750 of those stations are used by contracted firemen.

At the turn of the year, the organization of the rescue operation will also be transferred to the responsibility of the welfare regions. Even until now, the rescue services have operated on a provincial basis, but the reform causes some changes, which are now being discussed in the rescue industry.

Boil is a municipality of 2,000 inhabitants in the western part of Pohjois-Savo. One firefighter and a fire marshal work permanently at the Keitelee rescue station under the Pohjois Savo rescue service Teemu Tenhunen. The fire chief is also responsible for the neighboring municipalities of Pielavesi and Vesanto.

The nearest professional fire department is located in Siilinjärvi, an hour’s drive from Keitele. The nearest ambulances come 30 kilometers from Pielavede or Vesanno.

In Keitele, the fire department consists of 19 firemen on procedural wages who, like Jouni Leskinen, go to calls on their own time when the need requires. The Keitele fire department receives 120–140 alarms every year, on average every three or four days.

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According to Fire Chief Tenhusen, up to 90 percent of the tasks would be left unfulfilled if there were no firemen on procedural wages.

“Most of the tasks, where human life or health are really at risk, could not be handled without them. Or will we have time to save the house before it burns into a pile of coal. Without them, help would be far away. The time delay would multiply.”

Firefighter Teemu Tenhusen is responsible for the rescue operations in Keitele, Pielavesi and Vesanto.

My own the housing safety of the municipality is a reason for many people to join the fire brigade. In many places, a salary is also paid in the contract fire department.

However, firefighting is a demanding and binding hobby. Participating in alarm tasks requires training. In addition, knowledge, skills and own competence must be maintained. There are exercises every week, and alerts can come at any time.

Many contract fire departments have difficulties getting new people involved in the operation. In rural areas, the population is decreasing and aging. In addition to the fire brigade, organizations and many organizers of hobby activities compete for people of working age.

Shortage contract firemen have come to the fore, for example, in Kärsämäki in North Ostrobothnia in September, when the fire brigade unit in the territory of their own municipality could not be activated.

The building fire had time to spread, and the fire destroyed three buildings before the units of the neighboring municipalities arrived. Told about it Over.

It is difficult to get people to respond to alarms, especially during the day, because the contract firefighters are busy then.

In the rescue industry, it is hoped that people who leave during the day could be found, for example, among the unemployed. However, their participation is hindered by the fact that the fees paid for alarm duties affect unemployment compensation.

The chief rescue inspector of the Ministry of the Interior Jari Lepistön according to the rescue industry would like to be able to participate in activities that promote the safety of society without affecting unemployment benefits.

Also the reserve system is now being changed or dismantled.

Some of the rescue services have used a standby system to ensure continuous operational readiness. In some cases, the courts have ruled that too strict operational readiness time can be equated with working time. Rescue services have been ordered to pay large compensations to workers.

The time requirement has been relaxed, and some of the rescue services replace being on standby by changing the rescue stations to work around the clock.

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This happens, for example, in Pohjois Savo. In response, for example, the Keitele rescue station has 1–2 permanent rescuers around the clock.

In the future working time legislation can also affect contract fire brigades, as welfare areas become employers of contract fire brigade members as well.

If an employee on the payroll of the welfare area – for example, a paramedic – is also involved in fire brigade operations, working and rest time regulations may limit his participation in alarm duties.

“We have to make sure that there are no such restrictions that could paralyze fire brigade operations. These issues need to be clarified this fall,” says Lepistö.

According to him, the role of contract fire brigades in the safety of rural areas is central, because “there are not enough professionals for every promontory, hollow and island”.

“Everyone can think in their mind that if you crash and you’re stuck in a wreck on the side of the road, how long are you willing to wait. The contracted fire department of a nearby rural community will probably be the first to help get rid of that scrap.”

Keiteläinen Jouni Leskinen has been involved in the fire department for twenty years, since he was about 15 years old. The information about the alarms comes to the cell phone, so you have to decide whether to go to the gig or not.

“Usually I go. I get 40–50 gigs a year,” says Leskinen.

Jouni Leskinen puts on rescuer’s equipment at the rescue station in Keitele.

The tasks are different. There are extinguishing works and demanding smoke diving tasks, there are traffic accidents and water rescue tasks, as well as first response tasks to those who have an attack of illness. There is also the clearing of trees felled by the storm and sometimes the lifting of cows that have fallen into the slurry pond.

Let’s cook the fire department has rescue drills every Monday, and every few weeks Jouni Leskinen is a volunteer on standby. Then he must always be reachable and quickly on the move when the alarm comes.

Fire brigade operations affect the everyday life of the whole family. The widower has a nurse wife who works three shifts and children aged four and seven. The children’s grandmother, Leskinen’s mother, acts as the back-up nurse for childcare.

“The children recognize the alarm sound and already say themselves that I’m calling grandma,” says Leskinen.

Although being a firefighter is binding, Leskinen says he likes the work and finds it meaningful. Fire brigade activities also add hundreds of euros to his monthly income.

“If I didn’t get paid, I probably wouldn’t do this so much.”

In contract fire brigades there are representatives of different professional groups. According to Fire Chief Teemu Tenhusen, the different professional skills and local knowledge of firemen are useful.

“Usually someone in the group knows what kind of place we are going to. The downside is that when someone has missed someone, they are probably familiar to one of us in some way,” says Tenhunen.

34-year-old Jouni Leskinen has been involved in fire brigade operations for twenty years. He went with his older brother when he was in middle school.

During the tasks, human suffering and also death are encountered.

Among the patients Jouni Leskinen has encountered, there has not been anyone really close to him. However, one particularly difficult alarm task from years ago has remained in his mind: he was alerted to the scene of an accident where a child had fallen under a tractor.

“We did what we could, but nothing could be done. When the situation calmed down, there was such a weakening.”

Traumatic after work, the rescue service organizes demolition events for the firefighters.

According to Leskinen, difficult situations are often dealt with when returning from an alarm. Especially the youngest firefighters are tried to be taken into account after mentally difficult tasks.

“When that first inanimate object hits you, you feel it. However, now 20 years have already seen everything. But we have a good team.”

In situations requiring resuscitation, the patient may not be able to be saved. This year, however, Leskinen has had two alarm missions, in which the life functions of a lifeless person have been restored. Successes encourage you to move forward.

“I do know that we do really important work all over Finland. If the fire station has one permanent firefighter and the next ones come 30 kilometers away, it doesn’t help much if there is a big emergency.”

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