Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service Case Managers

The best kept secret in Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is the raft of information available from the five Case Managers. Jackie Tozer (Wiltshire North), Nic Cocks (Wiltshire West), Martyn Jones (Wiltshire South), Mike Matthews (Wiltshire East) and Bob Tabel (Swindon) are the ones that put flesh on the statistical bones. They take the dry facts from individual incidents and pull together trends that then shape community safety work.

Examples of this include identifying patterns in deliberate fire-setting and then liaising with the police to target those responsible, as well as analysing white goods fires to see if there are recurrent issues with particular makes or models. The work of the case managers goes far beyond data analysis. They are the vital link between the operational crews and other agencies – for example, if a firefighter goes to a property and is concerned about someone’s well-being, they can pass that information to their case manager and know that it will be followed up.

Equally, the case managers liaise with social services, mental health experts and others to identify households that would benefit from home fire safety checks. ‘After the incident’ follow-ups – such as in Minety, where there was a fatal fire - are another important part of the case managers’ role.

While all five case managers work in very similar ways, their individual roles differ depending on the area covered. The very nature of the job means that it is shaped by local incidents, local partnerships and local knowledge.