Several members of ICC's Washington, D.C., Government Relations (GR) office got to experience routine fire service activities up close and personal October 30, 2015, at the annual Congressional Fire Training Day hosted by the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI).
Justin Wiley (VP, Government Relations Planning & Operations), Robert Sale (Government Relations Representative), Bryan Soukup (Government Relations Regional Manager and National Liaison) and Chis Ochoa (VP of Government Relations, Federal Activities) spent the day learning the tools and skills that America's fire fighters use every day.
Sponsored by the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), the fire training day is a unique educational experience for Congressional staff and other to experience firsthand what firefighters encounter in their daily work and training. The event was estimated by MFRI Director Steven T. Edwards to be the 20th time the event has been held.
Located near the University of Maryland in College Park, MFRI is the headquarters to the state of Maryland's fire and EMS training facilities. Under the supervision of highly skilled instructors, attendees performed the same training evolutions that new firefighters do. They were dressed head-to-toe in real turnout gear (boots, pants, coat, helmet and self-contained breathing apparatus). From there, they had the opportunity to extinguish a fire, practice search and rescue techniques, use extrication tools to cut a vehicle and simulate a rescue, stand in the bucket of a tower ladder that reached 100 feet in the air, and many other things throughout the day.
The MFRI staff instructors are all firefighter/EMTs or firefighter/paramedics who led attendees through these exercises, describing them in detail for safety purposes and explaining how training is transferred to everyday emergencies. |
