Emergency Personnel Invited to Public Safety Weekend at BCCC

Published: Wednesday, January 25th, 2017 @ 9:38 am
By: Beaufort County Community College ( More Entries )

Press Release:

    WASHINGTON, NC     Beaufort County Community College invites emergency personnel to its second annual Public Safety Weekend from March 3-5. Fire, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel can take advantage of the classes to fulfill their annual training requirements locally.

    Each year, emergency personnel are required to attend 36 hours of training, of which 35% can be at a training facility. Often firefighters, the majority of whom are volunteers, travel to remote parts of the state to fulfill their requirements. Public Safety Weekend will mean that emergency personnel, including the 450 volunteer firefighters in the region, can fulfill a majority of their requirements at BCCC.

    Johnny Williams, director of fire training programs at BCCC, said, "Most of these firefighters are already donating their time. Having these trainings locally means that we are not pulling them as far away from their homes and families."

    Enrollment is on a "first-come, first-served" basis. Classes include Emergency Vehicle Driving, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Ventilation, Forcible Entry, among others. Early registration for the classes closes on February 24. Late registrations will be taken at the start of the classes, but some classes may not be available at that time.

    The weekend will feature several safety and emergency equipment vendors and PotashCorp and Code 3 Insurance are providing a free lunch.

    Last year the event allowed regional firefighters to experience BCCC's fire training facility for the first time. The facility includes a configurable maze, a rappelling station, sprinkler systems, a confined space and a burn room. Fire personnel trained with live fire and firehoses, and they learned how to stabilize vehicles involved in a collision. EMS personnel practiced inserting needles into chicken parts and life-saving techniques.

    The training facility and the weekend will also benefit homeowners in the area. The NC Department of Insurance awards points to fire departments based on their training and readiness. Homeowners in insurance districts serviced by 9S-rated fire departments can see a decrease in their homeowner's insurance rates. Of the nine possible points in the rating system, access to a training facility counts for up to 3.15 points, the largest single contributor in the crediting system. Beaufort County's investment in the training facility will not only make residents safer and help local emergency personnel, it will help decrease the insurance burden for area homeowners.

    The college is in the process of expanding facilities to train emergency personnel. The new facilities will include a driving pad for emergency vehicle training as well as classrooms and storage space for props including emergency vehicles.

    For more information about BCCC's Public Safety Weekend, visit https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8G0nUhdN0jPTnRMdzhjaVNDSjA/view, or contact Johnny Williams at 252-940-6363 or johnny.williams@beaufortccc.edu.