On April 13th, 14th and 16th the Carriere Volunteer Fire Department hosted a 12-hour course on basic fire rescue operations.
The course was taught by Justin Miller, a Mississippi State Fire Academy accredited instructor. There were 20 firefighters enrolled in the course from Carriere, Southeast, Poplarville and Amackertown.
The course was not only open to firefighters, but also to emergency workers, Miller said.
The course went over many different rescue operation procedures including confined space rescues, structural collapse rescues and water rescues, Miller said.
For a water rescue, the firefighters learned the anatomy of a river, and how water flows.
“It was to make them aware of the dangers of working around moving water,” Miller said.
The first part of the course was spent in the classroom, however the last night of the course provided hands-on training. Firefighters had to rescue a simulated, downed firefighter in a confined space, while wearing full protective gear and a black out mask, Miller said. The purpose of the black out mask was to make it harder for the firefighters to see, and they had to complete this exercise on one tank of air, Miller said.
Each county in the state is allotted any two courses offered by the Mississippi State Fire Academy to be taught twice a year by an accredited instructor, Miller said. The academy sends an instructor to teach the course free of charge to the county.