Firefighters sharpen skills through training
RUSSELLVILLE – City firefighters have been working through handson drills designed to keep both their firefighting and emergency medical skills sharp.
About 80% of the department’s calls are medical in nature, Assistant Fire Chief Randy Seal said, which makes EMS training a central focus.
“We’re an advanced life support service, but we’re non-transport because we don’t have an ambulance,” Seal said. “We can provide medical attention until an ambulance gets there.”
To hone their skills, firefighters have practiced airway insertion and intubation techniques.
Using IV arm and leg simulators, they also trained on a procedure that allows medication or fluids to be delivered through bone when a vein cannot be established.
Several firefighters are currently enrolled in advanced EMT courses, Seal said, while others are pursuing paramedic certification.
Monthly training rotates through different fire and medical disciplines, Lt. Grant Tarascou said, including interior search drills conducted inside modified shipping containers and pump operations.
Recent drills also focused on ladder deployment and vertical ventilation with firefighters cutting openings into a roof prop to simulate releasing heat and smoke from a fire.
“Ventilating that roof creates a hole for the heat and smoke to rise,” Tarascou said. “We can set up our positive pressure fan and blow that smoke. It’s almost like a chimney.”
