from staff reports
CNHI
MERIDIAN —
The men and women who make up Lauderdale County's volunteer fire departments all have one thing in common – the desire to protect and serve their community.
Of course these volunteers don't get paid for their service, and although some are retired, there are many, like Bo Land from the Martin community, who work full-time and have a family.
That means volunteer fire department members must train nights and weekends.
According to Allan Dover, assistant fire coordinator and training officer for Lauderdale County, funds for training were tight this year due to the economy and budget cuts, until Randy Barrett, a workforce project manager with Meridian Community College gave him a call.
"On an average year, we will offer anywhere between 250 and 300 hours that are available to the volunteers to train," said Dover. "Some of that is for certifications such as Volunteer Firefighter Level I and Level II and other training such as Hazardous Materials."
"Working with MCC will allow additional training in elective courses that the volunteers need in order to continue with their professional development as fire fighters. We wouldn’t have been able to offer these courses without the college."
The funds, available through the State Board for Community and Junior College (SBCJC) in accordance with the Workforce Education Project policies, will pay for Dover’s salary for the evening and weekend classes.
Before choosing what courses to offer, Dover approached the 16 volunteer departments in Lauderdale County and the municipal volunteer fire department in Marion to get a consensus of what training they wanted. From there he worked up a training schedule and submitted it to Barrett at MCC.
The training kicked off in January with a VFIS driving school followed by pump operations.
"We first did the driver section of the course, 16 hours of emergency vehicle operations," noted Dover. "Then we did the pump operator side of it, which we gave them the basic principles of how to properly maintain and operate a pump. I took the two hardest skills that there were involved in pump operations and offered one skill on a Thursday evening at Toomsuba Volunteer Fire Department. The second skill, how to pump off a hydrant, took place at the Lauderdale County Training facility on a Saturday morning."
"The operators that came out of this class," said Dover, "are not going to be certified to pump but they are getting the skills. And at the end of the day, that's what it's about. Knowing how to do the job safely is more important than having a certificate on the wall."
Additional training courses, which started this month and will continue through April include Hybrid Vehicles Emergencies, Vehicle Extrication, and Meth Lab Recognition and First Responder Safety.
Excited about this new partnership between Lauderdale County Volunteer Fire Departments and MCC, Dover said he hopes more funds will be available later in the year for other training that is needed.
