Fire Academy Skills Days
If you passed by the EHS parking lot on May 21st and 22nd, you may have seen a Euclid firetruck, ladders, hoses, and fire equipment. The Euclid High School Fire Academy and the Euclid Fire Department were running their first ever "skills days." A collaborative effort between Assistant Chief Will Anderson of the Euclid Fire Department and EHS Fire Academy Instructor John Padley to provide an opportunity for the cadets to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to real-life scenarios using real equipment. The Euclid Fire Department was gracious enough to provide three firefighters to help teach as well as a variety of equipment. Each of the skills days included four workstations, each with a different instructor. The first day took place in the Fire Academy Classroom at EHS and consisted of EMS skills. The workstations included assessing basic vital signs (pulse, respirations, and blood pressure), airway management, wound dressing/bleeding control, and spinal immobilization. Once complete with the four workstations, cadets were treated to lunch and were introduced to the Commander of Tri-C's Fire Academy, Ted Huffmann, who spoke to the cadets about the senior year experience in the Academy, what the expectations were for next year, and the end goal of preparing cadets to enter the workforce as a professional firefighter immediately upon graduation from high school. The second day took place outside in the staff parking lot just across the street from EFD Station number one and included SCBA donning/doffing, hydrant operations, tool and appliance recognition, and ladder operations.
Next year, select cadets will continue on in the program and attend Tri-C class for three hours each morning, five days per week. They will attend EMT-Basic class at the Tri-C Eastern Campus during the fall semester and either the Firefighter class or the STNA/Dispatch class at the Western Campus during the spring semester.
Students that successfully complete all components of the program and pass the required National Registry and State certification exams will acquire the following certifications upon graduation: National Registered Emergency Medical Technician-Basic, Ohio Firefighter I & II, HazMat Awareness & Operations, Emergency Vehicle Operator Certification, and FEMA Incident Command System IS100, IS200, IS700, and IS800. With these certifications, the cadets will be prepared to enter the workforce as an EMT or part-time firefighter. Once the cadets complete their Paramedic certification, a one-year course, they will have all the required certifications to work as a full-time career firefighter.