SAFETY IN NUMBERS From simple calamities like a sprained ankle to critical events like fires, vehicle accidents or potential heart attacks, there’s a team of people who run toward the trouble: They’re called Heroes. Most of us don’t consider the planning, training, and resources that go into making an area safe, including our Iowa Great Lakes. Fortunately for both visitors and residents, we have a Team of Heroes who study and train for events to keep us safe. Local public safety personnel are available 24/7, helping people who find themselves in peril, large or small. Each department responds to literally hundreds of calls each year. The glue holding all these departments together is the 6-person staff of the county-operated communications center, which stands ready to direct emergency calls.
IT TAKES A
TEAM OF
HEROES BY JONATHAN
REED
Your dedication is showing Volunteer commitment isn’t just limited to on-call availability; it really shows its mettle with ongoing training. Police and fire personnel represent the front line of safety for most of us, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Consider that it requires 180 hours of classroom time to reach Firefighter I status. That’s over a month of 8-to-5 learning, and it’s just the beginning. Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire & Rescue’s Chris Yungbluth points out that even
long-certified personnel have a monthly continuing education (CE) class, plus two or three nights a month for firefighters. To be a “first responder” (now termed Emergency Medical Responders), you have additional 12 hours of training and classes; paramedics, 48 hours…and it only increases from there to higher levels of certification.
108
VACATION OKOB OJI 2 0 2 4
The EMT who rips your shirt open to use a defibrillator? That’s an additional 24 hours of CE every two years, just to stay up on latest techniques and technology. Dive Team members who help pull anyone from the water, summer or winter, have even more regular training beyond their certification— two to four more hours every month.
