Photo: Kody Baker (Brandon) , member of Brandon PD Police Cadets, Logan Clark (Rutland), member of Rutland PD Police Cadets, Tyler Manning (Poultney HS), member of Middletrown Springs Volunteer Fire Dept., and Brian Ward, son of Fair Haven Fire Dept. Chief David Ward
Seventeen students in the Stafford Technical Center Public Safety Services Program recently were trained in the area of “Highway Safety for Emergency Personnel” by a trainer from theVermontFireAcademy, Matt Trombley. Mr. Trombley is a full-time firefighter with the Burlington City Fire Department and is a resident of Pittsford. The principles behind this training deal with the proper way of positioning emergency vehicles- fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances.
When these vehicles are placed in the proper spot, crashes caused by gawkers are less likely to occur. Crashes involving drivers who focus on the incident rather than the road are far too frequent- they become victims themselves, or in other circumstances, they kill the rescuers at the scene. If the inattentive driver hits the emergency vehicle instead of a person, an improperly placed apparatus will become a lethal weapon; a properly placed one will block the vehicle from doing any harm to the rescuers.
The ten students who successfully completed the program were Rutland High School students Megan Barber, Kayla Temple, Logan Clark, Bryan Raiche, and Vincent Venturella, Otter Valley Union High School students Kody Baker, Porsche Lowell, Colton Benoit, and Zachary Field, Mill River Union High School student Chelsea Fitzgerald, Poultney High School students Tyler Manning and Alison DeRoy, Fair Haven Union High School students Brandon Ellis, Dylan Goad, Stephen Marcoux, and Brian Ward, and Rutland Area Christian School student Aaron Hildebrand. The students were very appreciative of Matt Trombley’s excellent instruction, which resulted in each student achieving 100% on the exam at the end. Tyler Manning, a member of the Middletown Springs Volunteer Fire Department completed one of the requirements for attaining FireFighter1 certification by passing this course. Kody Baker, Logan Clark, Brandon Ellis, and Dylan Goad are all members of police cadet organizations; this training is also applicable to police science.
This course was developed by the Glatfelter Insurance Group both as a public service and as an attempt to reduce the costs to communities that these deaths and injuries to emergency services workers entail. In addition to the obvious costs in death benefits, medical costs, and workmen’s compensation claims, there are significant additional costs due to the loss of expertise. It takes years to become proficient as an EMT, police officer, or firefighter, much less an officer or specialist in these fields. When these professionals are lost to a community or organization, the loss is enormous. This course is required by many departments in the fire, police and rescue services.