DUTIES OF THE E.P.S.

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 16, 20 January 1944, Page 4

DUTIES OF THE E.P.S.

The announcement by the Minister of Civil Defence (Mr. Wilson) that E.P.S. personnel in certain areas vulnerable to scrub and bush fires have been notified that they are to assume full responsibility for fire-fighting draws attention to the part that the organisation has to play now that the danger of enemy action has receded. There are certain civil functions that can usefully be performed by E.P.S. workers—assistance in coping with an epidemic or other national emergency, for instance—but if there is to be the greatest possible efficiency it is desirable that the organisation—or what remains of it—should be placed on a more definite basis than at present. The real backbone of the E.P.S. has always been the voluntary worker, the. man who has a real enthusiasm for the job and who is willing to sacrifice his leisure time in order to perform it. Originally the organisation was built up on a voluntary basis, and compulsion was only introduced when a national emergency demanded that the services of every eligible man and woman should, be available. When the emergency passed the organisation reverted, to all intents^and purposes, to the old basis—the enthusiasts carried on and those who had never shown more than a spark of enthusiasm were placed on a rather nebulous reserve. They were not given a discharge, nor were the duties they might be called upon to perform ever clearly defined. Unless the E.P.S. is placed on a more definite basis there is a decided danger of the organisation losing a great deal of its effectiveness. The enthusiast, uncertain of what is expected of him, will lose much of his enthusiasm and the non-enthusiast will remain completely disinterested. The danger could best be avoided' if the authorities defined the duties the E.P.S. might be expected to perform and organised it in such a way that, trained or semitrained personnel would be available in case of emergency. • Such a scheme would provide an avenue of service for the real enthusiast, and- the nonenthusiast might be conveniently forgotten. His value was always an uncertain quantity.