Fire Medic Camp Boosts Diversity
While Helping Disadvantaged Youths

It all began when HCFR officials realized that despite a desire to employ a workforce representative of the community, the department wasn't receiving applications from women and minorities. In May 2000, senior officers formed a committee to find out why. They found several reasons-all revolving around the fact that fire and rescue careers were not being introduced to high school students.

"Unless someone already possesses the necessary firefighter and/or paramedic certifications, the likelihood of him or her searching the classifieds for this type of job opportunity was essentially nonexistent," says Hillsborough County's Chief Bill Nesmith.

Hillsborough County's committee learned that most people who worked for the fire department learned about the career through a friend, neighbor or family member. "Economically challenged minority residents didn't have that connection," says Nesmith, "and they weren't getting it from the high schools and colleges in the area, which seemed to have stronger recruitment efforts toward other programs, such as technical, medical, law, teaching and science."

To help get the word out among high school students, the committee located an organization that could help: NeXstep is a partner of the Hillsborough County/Tampa Youth Opportunity Movement (YO!), which received a $6 million federal grant under the U.S. Department of Labor Youth Opportunity Grant program to help area youth.

Together, HCFR and NeXstep planned and implemented the YO!/HCFR Fire Medic Summer Camp, an eight-week program designed to teach promising 15- to 21-year-olds the basics of a career in emergency services.

HCFR and NeXstep worked through the Hillsborough County school system to find participants. The school system identified disadvantaged minority individuals; HCFR and NeXstep then went into the school to learn which of those students were interested in fire and EMS. Any selected student with a minimum C average (for students) or a high-school diploma or GED (for non-students) was welcome to participate-after passing a medical exam. Twenty-four students signed up for the program.

The first week of camp introduced participants to all aspects of fire and rescue services. They took field trips to fire stations, administrative offices and emergency dispatch centers, where they learned about specialized equipment (such as platform trucks) and saw demonstrations of vehicle extrication.

During the second week, participants received a 40-hour medical course that taught them such skills as evaluating patients, taking vital signs, treating burns and performing CPR. Nineteen of the 24 original participants finished the first two weeks of camp and received First Responder certification.

Of the First Responder graduates, 17 who were 16-21 years old completed the state of Florida Firefighter-I curriculum during the program's final six weeks.
In addition to fire responder training, the curriculum included training in:

• fire behavior
• hazardous materials
• building construction and safety and survival,
• building search and victim removal
• ropes and knots
• ladders and portable extinguishers
• hoses and fire streams

The training culminated with a test in a controlled live burn.

"Ten of the youth actually experienced crawling into a dark, smoke-filled room that reached a temperature of nearly 800º," says Nesmith. "Each of them exited the controlled burn hot, tired and sweaty, but beaming with pride at accomplishing something they never dreamed a possibility."

Of the 10 participants who successfully completed the eight-week program (including the final exercise), five qualified to take the state exam for Firefighter I certification (Florida requires examinees to be 18 or older. Younger individuals may take the exam, but will not receive a certificate until they turn 18). Four of the five plan to pursue a career in emergency services.

They say they'll take the state test for Firefighter I and plan to continue training to obtain Firefighter II and paramedic certifications. The fifth participant decided to pursue a career in criminal justice and is currently enrolled at Hillsborough Community College.

Nesmith is pleased with the program's results. "The program has equipped youth with the information needed to make a choice about career options," he says. "And it has enhanced HCFR's relationship with the community by showing that the service really is interested in responding to [problems] that plague an economically challenged area."

If your agency is interested in establishing a similar program, there are 36 Youth Opportunity programs in cities and towns across the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

To locate the YO! program in your area, contact the U.S. Department of Labor's Youth Opportunity Movement at 202/693-3035 or visit the YO! Web site.

For more information about Hillsborough County's Fire Medic Summer Camp, contact HCFR at (813) 272-6600.