Very few members of the public really understand what a retained firefighter is and what our role in today's Fire Service consists of.

This lack of knowledge is partly down to the media, the individual Fire Service's around the UK and all of us retained firefighters.

It doesn't help when the press, trying to explain the word 'retained', describe us as part-time firefighters or volunteers. We're neither. You can't get much more full-time than carrying an alerter around with you day and night, virtually 365 days of the year. And we're not volunteers. We get paid a retainer (hence retained firefighter). It's about £2500 per year or around £7.50 a day (if you take off leave entitlement). So for around 31p an hour we make ourselves available for any incident, 24 hours a day - now that's what I call value for money! Actually Pay and Conditions is a whole separate rant - so back to the plot.

The vast majority of UK Fire and Rescue Services rely heavily on retained firefighters to keep the fire service operational. Take Suffolk as an example. There are 35 fire stations of which only 4 are manned by wholetime firefighters, 24 hours a day. A few are day-manned, so retained firefighters take over at night but the majority are one or two-pump fire stations located in small towns and villages across the county. In these small communities many of the local people understand how the fire service works in their area - it's likely that they know of someone that's on the local crew.

It's at stations in the larger towns that the public are blissfully unaware of how the fire service operates.

If there is a six-pump shout in Lowestoft, only one fire engine will be a wholetime pump. All the others will be crewed by retained firefighters from Lowestoft and the surrounding area (Beccles, Wrentham, Southwold etc). But to the public, when they dial 999 and ask for Fire, they don't actually care whether the fire engines that turn up are crewed by wholetime or retained firefighters. They've got an emergency and they need it dealing with. And it's right that there shouldn't be any distinction between us in the eyes of the public.

I just feel that the likes of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service are missing a PR trick here. All organisations whether they are public or private sector want and need good publicity. Across the county we are desparately short of retained firefighters - recruitment is always difficult. So why doesn't the Fire Service get its act together and proudly show off what is probably the best resource it will ever have - its retained firefighters. Its best resource will never be its kit whether it be fire engines, personal protective equipment or its organisational standards (these are ripe for rants of their own!).

If you've got it, flaunt it. Any turned on business knows that its staff are its biggest asset. They make or break an organisation.

So come on Suffolk, let's get those local authority wheels turning, and tell your 'customers' how good your staff are, all of them - retained firefighters, wholetime firefighters, control room staff and the myriad of people that keep the service going.

Do you know, I almost feel better for having a bit of a rant, a bit of a whinge. Well I'm at that age when I can officially claim membership of the Grumpy Old Men's Club. No doubt this won't be the last of these 'getting it off your chest' posts.

If there's anyone out there who'd like to rant, rave or whinge (not about the missus, the kids, the credit crunch or anything else), just let me know. Just send me your thoughts via the Comments link underneath this post.

The end. Phew!