Campers in Richmond experience what firefighting is like
RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - Firefighters perform a variety of tasks while doing their jobs.
That's something a dozen middle-schoolers learned this week during the second Richmond Fire Academy. The campers who are entering sixth through eighth grades experienced putting out a fire, yes, but they also learned about emergency medical service, extrications, search and rescue, hazardous materials, dive team, rappelling and more during a busy 40 hours.
"I actually thought, before I ever came to the camp, I only thought firefighters just put out fires, but I learned that they do other stuff like search and rescue, cutting apart cars, helping with the EMS stuff," said Katelyn Meeks, a 13-year-old who attends Seton Catholic. "I think it's a good experience so that you can learn basic skills in an emergency."
Meeks and Jason Glass were lieutenants of two of the four three-person engine companies to which campers were assigned.
"I like this camp; it's a wonderful camp," said Glass, a 12-year-old who attends Northeastern Middle School. "It definitely teaches you team-building skills, but it also teaches you how to put out a fire, search and rescue, water rescues - we did a little diving and got in a boat."
Mike Davis, Richmond Fire Department's chief of fire prevention, organizes the hands-on camp to realistically portray what firefighters experience and the work they do. He said even children of firefighters are surprised by what the job encompasses.
"They've been around it because of their dads, and they're still blown away by the stuff we do in camp," he said. "They see it and try to understand why Dad's so tired."
Campers don gear, and participate in activities such as climbing an aerial ladder, cutting cars, rappelling from Station 1's second level and putting out a training fire. They also become familiar with fire equipment and vehicles, including the LifeLine medical helicopter, and they visit 9-1-1 dispatchers and Reid Health's emergency room.
"What I like about the best was that the LifeLine helicopter came, because that's kind of a one-time deal," said Meeks, who led the Engine 1 company.
Davis said the campers experienced the extreme heat of a fire Monday when they were able to visit a training burn. They put out small fires, then watched as the department burned down the house, seeing how the fire acted and how heat was released when the roof collapsed.
"We were actually able to put out some live fires," said Glass, the lieutenant for Engine 3. "We saw a house burn down, and that was really fun."
Madison Antoine, an 11-year-old who attends Hibberd Middle School, said she'd like to work in an ambulance.
"It helped me a lot, because I didn't know what EMS really did," she said of the camp. "It's fun. I get to learn different experiences."
The way Davis divided the campers into companies mirrors RFD's actual setup. The lieutenants had all participated in last year's camp, and they were charged with leadership responsibilities, such as making sure their company members ate and drank enough and assigning tasks.
"Every day, I give them challenges as a team to do," Davis said. "They have to use the resources in the team. The lieutenants returning from last year truly help guide and lead the new people."
Glass, who said he might like to be a firefighter, especially on a dive team, said being a lieutenant was not too much different from being in the company.
"It's kind of the same, but also you can assign tasks to people based on their skills," he said. "Like if you have someone tall, then you can assign them to reach something that's high."
Learning teamwork is one of the primary goals Davis, who said the week went very well, sets for the campers.
"I try to push them beyond what they think they can do and so they realize how important the team is," he said. "They have to work as a team."
___
Source: (Richmond) Palladium-Item, http://pinews.co/29Lq6Rb
___
Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com