Online dating site for the emergency services (From Daily Echo)

Online dating site for the emergency services

10:12am Saturday 4th October 2008

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EVERYONE loves a man, or woman, in uniform – and now there is a hi-tech dating system to help find one.

Members of the emergency services have been used to struggling to find that elusive other half due to working anti-social shift patterns.

For years they relied on the annual 999 Ball, where police officers, firefighters and nurses let their hair down and mixed with the opposite sex.

But that is now a thing of the past – thanks to one 999 worker from Hampshire.

He has launched a dating website that promises to help members of the emergency services rescue their own love lives.

The unnamed serviceman said: “The idea is to connect members of the emergency services with people who may want to date them, be they in the services themselves or just wanting to meet someone who is in the emergency services.

“There are a lot of people working for the police, fire brigade, ambulance service and so on who find it really hard to meet people because of the nature of their jobs.

“There’s a lot of stress involved and sometimes they will see things in their working day that are incredibly shocking and they take it home with them.

“However, this website will help them find like-minded people.”

The website, dating999.co.uk, which costs users £12 a month, launches today and already has 36 members from all over the county and as far away as Liverpool.

“I came up with the idea when I was at an incident and a female colleague was telling me how, because of her work commitments, she was finding it hard to get out and meet people,” added the 999 worker.

“It got me thinking about how to connect people who were having the same problems meeting others, and a dating site aimed specifically at them seemed the perfect solution.

“Everyone in the emergency services is fairly level-headed and able to cope with tough situations because that’s the nature of the job. It definitely takes a certain type of person to be in the services.

“People stand a lot better chance of hitting it off if they have something in common already.

“In the past services have run 999 events like balls or nights out but they aren’t usually for all the emergency services and are limited to certain areas.

“My hope now is that lots of people will sign up and the site can help people in the emergency services find love, wherever they live in the country.

“There’s also something attractive about someone in the services – they’re definitely a good catch.

“From a money point of view they are fairly secure, plus you get to tell everyone you’re dating a firefighter or a police officer!”

A spokeswoman for South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “We are encouraged to hear that there is a new dating service especially for emergency services personnel.

“The job can sometimes be very stressful and so finding someone who works for the services can often mean they find someone to talk to who understands the stressful work and long hours which are involved.”

Hampshire Police Federation and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service declined to comment.

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