As the first class in Gilmer Fire and Rescue’s new recruit training program finishes EMT training, the county fire department prepares to usher in a second round of its comprehensive on-the-job training/certification program.
“We’re looking for this next class to fill out all our budgeted positions,” said Fire Chief Daniel Kauffman.
Two open houses have been scheduled, at which the “noncert.” training program will be discussed and explained. They will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 4, at the main fire station on Howard Simmons Road.
The open houses are for anyone wanting to learn more about enrolling in the program, through which noncertified recruits are paid a 40-hour work week to undergo training and state-required certification to become licensed firefighters and EMTs.
“(After taking applications), we’ll start the process of going through the applications, making sure all candidates meet any requirements that we need like having a high school diploma, the correct age and no felony records,” said Kauffman. “After we’ve gone through the applications, people will be notified for interviews. Then there will be a physical agility process and possibly second interviews.”
Kauffman said a hard date for starting the next class hasn’t been decided yet, but the fire department is hoping to have it started by June 26.
“It’s subject to change, but we’re projected to start (by then) with orientation, benefits and stuff like that,” Kauffman said.
In-house training will be done for the levels of Firefighter 1 and 2 and Basic and Advanced EMT. After each leg of training is complete, students take their national registry exams to obtain certification in those areas.
“I wouldn’t do this program again if I wasn’t very pleased with the outcome,” Kauffman said. “The end product is great, and this has all been done in-house, which is even more amazing. I couldn’t speak more highly of our fire and EMS instructors. The level of instruction is very good, and our instructors have taken the time to make sure they are prepared for their national registry exams.”
Eight of 15 recruits initially selected for the program’s first class remain enrolled, Kauffman confirmed.
“We’ve kept eight of the 15, and we’re very pleased with the quality of those eight.” he added. “This group has really gelled, and they’re like a big family out there. They are a solid group of men and women, and we are very proud of them.”
Members of that first group, Class 22-1, are about to finish the Advanced EMT leg of the program, which is the last certification they have to obtain before officially transitioning to fully certified 24-hour-shift employees.
“They’ve done their national registry for Basic EMT, and they just took their final for Advanced EMT. It was a 294 question final, and we had a 100 percent pass rate on that,” said Kauffman. “They will now be registered to take the national registry exam. After completion of that, they’ll be released into the field on 24-hour shifts. Over the next two weeks, they’ll also be doing their clinical rides because they have to have a certain amount of clinical hours on an ambulance.”
The EMT training has included a mix of classroom learning and reality-based, hands-on scenarios. When the training is complete, recruits will have undergone more than 500 combined educational and clinical hours between the Basic and Advanced EMT curriculum.
“The fire side is totally different than the EMT side,” said Kauffman. “They’ve had (things like) trauma scenarios, respiratory distress scenarios and cardiac-related scenarios. We have an ambulance the class uses to learn how to load and unload patients and care for a patient in the back. They simulate an emergency and put them in back of the ambulance, then somebody drives them around so they know what it’s like in the back while somebody is driving the ambulance. It’s way different than driving your car down the road.”
Since the fire department is looking to fill out its budgeted roster with the upcoming training, it’s too early to know if a third class will be offered next year.
“The commission would have to commit to more positions (to have it again),” said Kauffman.