The training stage of the latest intake for the Barcelona Fire Service started on 15 September, with a basic training course at the Firefighters and Civil Protection School. Twelve of the eighty people taking part are women, the highest number in the history of the corps.
The training for the future firefighters covers many different disciplines. Trainees get 700 hours to gain specialist skills in various rescue manoeuvres such as cutting people free from wreckage and knowledge of vehicles and materials.
Using face masks, observing safety distances and disinfecting each of their tools after use, two groups of students (including two women) took part in a practical session on cutting people from wreckage on 28 October.
Both groups went through the practical procedures with a tutor and two technical instructors, who supervised them and guided them through each of the manoeuvres. The students from the latest Fire Service intake will complete their training this way.
Record number of women in training
Twelve of the 80 people now in training from the latest Fire Service intake are women, the highest number in the history of the corps.
“We’re on the right track, moving forward little by little, but this year we’ve doubled the number of women in the corps”, affirmed the two women students. The two future firewomen also noted “we all have a place here, but we have to change this very male perspective”.