The Fayette County Dept. of Fire and Emergency Services on Dec. 9 held graduation ceremonies for 11 new members from Cadet Class No. 31. The graduation was held at the county complex in Fayetteville.
Capt. Pete Nelms said all Fayette County cadets are certified as National Registered Emergency Medical Technicians and all have completed a 12-week 480-hour Fire School that is based on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 1001) curriculum.
Nelms said the class was instructed by Lt. Scott Roberts along with Lt. Joe Babb and Lt. Kevin Combs and was conducted Monday through Friday with some weekend training involved. The graduates will go into the daily operations of the Fire Department and function as firefighters and EMTs, Nelms said.
“This has been a great group of cadets to work with, from day one of training; they have worked as a team and showed a tremendous amount of dedication to the department and the firefighting profession,” said Roberts.
After graduation, the cadets will be certified as Firefighter I and Firefighter II through the Professional Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications-NPQ. Additional training includes Defensive Driving-Coaching the Emergency Vehicle Operator, Fire & Ambulance (CEVO I& II), CPR-Health Care Provider, a 16-hour vehicle extrication Class, 40-hour Hazmat Awareness and Operations class, NIMS 100 and 700 (National Incident Management System). The training was not only classroom time but twice a day the cadets had physical fitness training as well as numerous days training at the Burn Building performing firefighting drills, said Nelms.
Commenting on the graduating class Fire Chief Allen McCullough said, “This is a great group of individuals and they will help the department continue the long history of dedication and service to Fayette County and its citizens.”
