Training is of paramount importance for first responders, whether they’re new to the job or have decades of experience.
In an effort to extend its outreach to emergency service workers in Westmoreland County, the county’s community college is offering a variety of public safety training courses at its centers in Murrysville and New Kensington, starting this month.
“Some training certificates have an expiration date, so you have to take those classes to maintain certification,” said Darrick Gerano, director at Murrysville Medic One. “But, say, tomorrow, I went and became a fireman. As a part of that, I want to learn about rope training. You could take one of those courses and learn those skills.”
Classes being offered at the Murrysville branch at 6707 Mellon Road include an introduction to fire service, hazardous materials awareness, fire-ground support, both exterior and interior firefighting and HAZMAT operations.
At the New Kensington branch at 1150 Fifth Avenue, classes include two courses on pump operations, basic fire police training, traffic incident management, company readiness for the fire service, incident safety officer training, intro to fire officership, emergency response during civil unrest, new vehicle rescue awareness, basic vehicle rescue operations, HAZMAT operation refresher course, an advanced fire-fighting skills prep course, introduction to trench rescue and introduction to machinery rescue.
Medic One hosts in-house training for its new employees.
“If somebody comes here, and they’re trained, they go through an in-house orientation,” Gerano said. “But we also run a career academy twice a year, taking untrained people in and showing them CPR, advanced cardiac life support, and can get them certified as an EMT.”
Gerano added that fire departments in Westmoreland County are part of a recruitment-and-retention program as a means to boost their numbers.
Through the Edward Hutchinson Volunteer Firefighter Scholarship, new and veteran firefighters can receive waivers for part or all of their tuition.
In addition, officials from Hempfield said they far have exceeded their goal to recruit 300 new firefighters in Westmoreland County under a $4.3 million federal grant.
As of June, 443 new firefighters had begun working in the county, said James Shaw, Hempfield’s director of code and safety.
As the largest of the 60 departments included in the grant, Hempfield is helping to administer it.
The grant has footed the bill for new turnout gear, physicals and training for those recruits, inching closer to reaching the target number by November when the funding runs out.
“We’ve requested an extension of the grant for another six months, which would take us to May 2022,” Shaw said.
A complete schedule of public safety training classes is available at Westmoreland.edu/pstc.
