The civilian fire service were always jelous of the fact we had twin bottle basca sets and 3 thermal imaging cameras on all RN ships. Cumbria Fire service here at home onlt had 1 thermal camera and if it was on the wrong engine it had to be delivered to the other or it was brought out by the senior officer to the one that needed it. I hope in the last 20+ years that has changed. We now have 2 posh state of the art fire houses, the old victorian station has finally been abandoned.
From a previous thread on 125 man liferafts - we were always told the best life raft is the ship you are on, fight for it until all hope is lost. its easier to find a ship at sea than it is to find liferafts in the water. which brings us onto SOLAS, the best thing ever invented. If you have ever seen a radar screen when someone is in distress neatby and has set off an Eperb, lets just say its about the only thing you can see on the radar screen, a nice big target. there was a guy up in aberdeen who worked for SOLAS and he was taking some old equipment back for servicing, on his journey home one triggered in his car, by the time he got home to manchester he was met by a huge parafin puffing yellow heckalopter. Probably a fine.