Students learn fire extrication process

By Chad Ruiz
St. Tammany News
Published on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:43 AM CST



Glass was flying and metal was crunching at Fire Protection District 4’s training facility in Mandeville recently.

Delgado Community College had several students from their department of EMS Education visiting the facility as part of its nationally accredited 12-month training program.

The students took part in an extrication exercise performed on several wrecked vehicles.

Fire Protection District 4 firefighters use heavy equipment to cut through the reinforced side of a school bus. (Staff Photo by Chad Ruiz)

The exercise will count as credit toward their completion certificate.

Fire personnel hacked their way through the side of a bus using hydraulic cutting tools, while EMS students pulled a mock trauma victim from the wreckage and transported him to a nearby medical unit.

The exercise is mandatory for students enrolled in the paramedic program, Program Director Sharmaine Hughes said.

“It’s to teach them how to be safe at the scene of an accident,” Hughes said.

Training and Safety Officer Robert Hecker said FD4 partners with Delgado every year and offers EMS training at its facility for Northshore students.

Delgado students from the New Orleans campus travel to the training facility for the extrication exercise, Hecker said.

Delgado offers the only nationally accredited EMS program in the region, Hughes said, making space very limited.

Hughes said they only accept about a dozen students each year.

The program begins in January, but Hughes has already begun interviewing applicants for next year’s class. For more information on the program, contact Hughes at 504-671-6220 or visit the Web site at www.dcc.edu.

 


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