Wicomico County students train to become firefighters
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – For the first time in years, Wicomico County Public Schools are offering Firefighter/EMT training for students through the county’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program. The training is offered in partnership with the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute.
Field Instructor Vinnie Palmer said it’s hard to reproduce real life conditions for a burn exercise, but with a specially designed building made from concrete and steel, students are able to safely develop skills they would need in a real fire. “There’s only so many things that we can do to replicate a real-life scenario. We can make them pull hose lines up and down the steps in hallways, and around corners. That’s a real life scenario.”
For Donovan Payton, a student at James Bennett High School the rigorous Firefighter 1 course is hard work, but it’s worth it: “There’s some days where you’re tired and you don’t feel like doing anything else for the rest of the day, and you’re hurting, but you got to rest up and get right back at it tomorrow…I want to follow it as a career, but I’ll still volunteer too no matter what I’m doing. I’m probably going to stick with it for the rest of [my] life”
The resurgence of Wicomico County Public School’s CTE Firefighter/EMT program comes at a time when firehouses across the nation are in desperate need of help. “[Years ago] the International Association of Firefighters was saying that there was close to a million volunteer firefighters across the United States. That number has dropped significantly over the years,” Palmer said.
Palmer said that with the completion of the course and certifications, students will have options regardless of whether they decide to follow the career or volunteer route.
“Once these guys complete Firefighter 1 and a complete EMT, once they’re 18-years-old, they can apply for career employment with the Salisbury Fire Department. Likewise, most of them, as you look at the different names on the coats, are representing their volunteer firehouses now.”
The Firefighter/EMT program spans a whole school year, with the first semester devoted to firefighting and the second semester focusing on EMT skills.
Schools officials said the program was brought back with the help of local fire departments who have seen the need for firefighters firsthand.
