A multi-county board is proposing the creation of a local first-responder high school training program intended to add to the declining ranks of emergency personnel across the region.
The recently formed Essential Emergency Service Training Advisory Board wants to see a program hosted at the Seneca Highlands Career and Technical Center in Port Allegany that would involve students in McKean, Potter and Cameron counties and possibly Elk County.
“We have identified the central mission of the advisory board to maintain a Homeland Security’s Program at the CTC as a viable option to replenish the diminishing (first responder) numbers,” McKean County Commissioner Carol Duffy announced at a commissioners meeting Tuesday.
Officials hope to have the program approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the 2017-18 school year.
But Seneca Highlands Career and Technical Center Director James Young said such a training program, at this point, is not set in stone. He said he was asked to think about crafting such a program, and officials are in the infancy stage of that process.
“An important responsibility of career and technical education is to consistently review current and future programs that fit community, regional and state needs,” he said.
State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, said training had been among the areas of concern, in addition to funding and a lack of volunteers, expressed at a public meeting last year in Port Allegany that revolved around the challenges being experienced by local ambulance services.
“Students who have the opportunity to learn about what it takes to be a first responder may opt to pursue it as a career, or they may choose a different career but still volunteer their time for this important community service,” Causer said.
Causer said Duffy brought the idea of a training program to him after attending an EMS Task Force meeting earlier this year.
“In the weeks to come we will be reaching out to engage their interest, request their participation and support for this training program,” Duffy said. “The lack of highly qualified first responders is a critical rural/regional problem which affects each one of us at every level and this concern needs to be a priority. It is our goal to provide a training program for our youth which will benefit them by creating an opportunity to use this training to pursue a career or as a catalyst to expand into another related field while also being engaged in an environment of community service.”
Cameron County EMS Director Kevin Johnson said he realizes there is a need and a benefit for this kind of training.
“This training will benefit the communities by having additional trained responders/volunteers to take calls. It will benefit the students giving them a good background to further their education in the healthcare or firefighting fields when they graduate from high school,” he said. “Another good aspect is the kids will be able to be employed either paid or volunteer immediately upon graduation with no cost to them or the service they are associated with.”
For his part, Andrew Johnson, McKean County’s EMS director, sees the training program having a huge impact on area fire departments and ambulance services, both which have been struggling to bring on and keep members for decades.
“Ensuring that qualified responders are available to answer our calls for help is of paramount importance,” he said. “The amount of training that is required has been an obstacle to attracting new members for some time. Implementing a training program which would provide the basic training to school-age students in a Career and Technical Center would provide those students with valuable life skills and work ethic while also providing local agencies with qualified members.”
In his view, Bryan Phelps, who is fire chief for the Coudersport Volunteer Fire Department and chief of the Sweden Township Police Department, said such a training program is already a proven success; there is one in Chester County.
Elk County Emergency Management/ 911 Director Michael McAllister, who backs the local training effort, said, at least in the past, EMS training had also been held at St. Marys and Ridgway school districts.
“Being a first responder is a profession. I think it’s (a local training program) a great deal,” Phelps said.
Phelps said such a program would benefit communities who can take the training anywhere, he indicated.
“As a community we all need to ask ourselves … what is at stake if nothing happens NOW to address this issue? This is an opportunity for our community to invest in our youth and a viable option to ensure that when you call 911 a highly qualified first responder is on their way to help,” Duffy said.
The technical school in Port Allegany also offers automotive mechanics, building construction occupations, computer maintenance technology, cosmetology, culinary arts, health assistant, heavy equipment maintenance and metalworking occupations, network systems technology and welding, according to its website.
A training program for first responders, Young said, would require backing by community members and likely industry support as well.
“Additional training opportunities for people who have already graduated from high school, as well as reimbursement issues and other funding options, and possible volunteer incentives are also being discussed in an effort to strengthen our emergency services here. They truly are vital to the health and well-being of our residents,” Causer said.
