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Wisconsin Camp Sparks Passion for EMS in Teens
If you want to attract enthusiastic new recruits into firefighting and EMS, you have to reach them young. That’s the thinking behind Fired Up for the Future, an overnight fire and EMS training camp for teens in grades 7–12.
Held by Northwood Technical College in northwest Wisconsin, the five-day session at Boy Scouts of America Camp Phillips in Rice Lake, WI, this summer taught 32 campers the basics of EMS, firefighting and rescue, using the same equipment and training scenarios used for the college’s fire/EMS students.
The hope is that some of these campers will become EMTs/firefighters when they choose their careers, whether by taking courses at Northwood Tech or somewhere else. That’s why the college runs this camp, which was started in 2020.
“The number one issue facing fire and EMS agencies—especially small rural volunteer agencies that are our primary customers here in northwest Wisconsin—is recruitment,” said Tom Halbur, Northwood Tech’s Fire Services Program director. “And when it comes to recruiting new people for fire/EMS, we’ve been waiting too long. Kids these days are making their career choices much earlier in life, which is why our camp targets kids as young as Grade 7.”
A Solid Introduction to Fire and EMS
From the Sunday afternoon they arrive to the Thursday afternoon they leave, the campers at Fired Up for the Future live and breathe EMS and firefighting.
“We start the week with simple skills like patient assessment and vital signs, and on the fire side, getting into firefighting turnout gear and performing some pretty simple tasks,” said Halbur. “By the end of the week, we've covered topics like patient packaging, trauma, managing wound care, plus laying out fire hose lines, automobile extrications, and forcible entry. The kids are also certified in CPR by our college’s instructors. At camp’s end on Thursday, we run a “muster” for parents and family to watch as the kids compete at their various tasks.”
It's lot of content for any student to take in, especially over just five days. But the campers at Fired Up for the Future take it all in. “These kids are sponges and we give them a lot to soak up,” Halbur told EMS World. “And they do: It's amazing how much growth you see, from that first time when we show them a blood pressure cuff or a pair of firefighting boots to Thursday afternoon when they're flying through different fire/EMS tasks.”
To give the campers an authentic taste of what a firefighter/EMT’s life is really like, “We rouse them out of bed after 11 p.m. on Wednesday night, screaming at them that there is an alarm and they have to respond to it,” said Halbur. “We stage a multiple car accident with multiple patients for them to cope with. The kids have to set up a command post, delegate assignments for auto extrication, hose line protection and patient care for packaging, all while they’re half asleep.”
“It is really impressive to watch the kids perform,” he added. “And it's just kind of a great way for us to start to bring camp to an end.”
The fact that Northwood Tech teaches firefighting and EMS, and that class is out of session when the camp is being held, means that campers get to use authentic gear provided by the college, including their own ambulance and fire engine. To add realism to the multiple car accident, the camp gets scrap cars from a local wrecker.
Happy (Tired) Campers
Camp Fired Up for the Future welcomes kids from all walks of life, from those who come from fire/EMS households to those with no knowledge of these skills at all. “But regardless of where their starting point is, their ending point is always dramatically higher,” said Halbur. “As well, leadership is a constant theme in everything we do. At our camp, you see kids have a stronger background and a higher level of skill working with these kids who are newer to these subjects and leading them, and so the teams work amazingly well.”
This is no small achievement, given how rigorous life is at camp. “We rouse them out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and don’t put ‘em back until after 10 at night—and there is almost no downtime in between those hours. We keep them going all day every day and they love it. It's amazing, again,” he said. “As a 50-something myself, to watch the energy level of a 15-year-old going 100 miles an hour all week long is nothing short of amazing. Meanwhile, we have very few discipline issues. The kids are really excited to be there and it shows in how they conduct themselves.”
Making a Difference
With only three years under its belt, it’s likely too soon to say whether Fired Up by the Future is encouraging more people to enter the field. “Although we don't have data or metrics on past campers, I can tell you as the program director for the fire side here is that I see an awful lot of campers’ names on our class rosters following camp in Wisconsin,” said Halbur. “I am not familiar with what the criteria is on the EMS side, but I know a lot of our campers are getting into our fire classes, and if they're getting into our classes, that means they're getting into agencies.”
“I can tell you that this camp is tremendously popular with district departments, agencies, and fire/EMS associations,” he added. “They donate financial contributions to the camp.”
Northwood Tech is eager to share the program with other colleges and fire/EMS agencies around the world. Reach Tim Halbur at 715-931-0116 or e-mail tim.halbur@northwoodtech.edu.
James Careless is a frequent contributor to EMS World.
Comments
I would be very interested in receiving some information. I am with the zHillsboro Ambulance and am the PECC Coordinator.
—Patty Pesik