Six women have joined the Greater İzmir Municipal Fire Brigade.

Training in saving lives

In September, 132 people, 32 of them women, passed the exams entitling them to become firefighters. Six of the women were selected for the firefighting unit. There are now 33 female employees in the fire brigade, but these are the first firefighters.

Like all firefighters, they have been trained in using vehicles and equipment, extinguishing chemical and industrial fires as well as domestic fires, dealing with traffic accidents, working in collapsed buildings, and rescuing people in floods. They have also undergone first aid training.

The unit is run by AKS 110, the Emergency Rescue and Health Unit in İzmir. AKS 110 is also training 56 people for search and rescue work.

"A sacred profession"

One of the new firefighters, Figen Biricik expressed her pride in being among the first female staff. “Firefighting is a profession to be proud of. People might initially find it strange that we are women. But like in any other area, women can be successful here, too. Saving people is a sacred profession.”

Her colleague Berivan Sefer added that she had chosen the profession on purpose. “I think we can bring good qualities to the job.”

The AKS 110 teams carried out 917 saving operations in 2008. There were 236 traffic accidents. AKS 110 was able to save 503 wounded people, treat 48 of them on site and take the others to hospital.

The teams also dealt with 105 cases of people being stuck in elevators, and 41 suicide attempts and domestic accidents. (EZÖ/AG)