Charles County Volunteer Fire & EMS - Charles County, Maryland

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Apr 08, 2024
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Apr 18, 2024
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Apr 27, 2024 - Apr 28, 2024
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2024 Stats
Month Fire EMS
Jan 895 1689
Feb 778 1525
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Total 1673 3214

2023 Stats
Month Fire EMS
Jan 728 1520
Feb 716 1484
Mar 785 1465
Apr 923 1434
May 872 1616
Jun 865 1524
Jul 972 1680
Aug 859 1628
Sep 891 1556
Oct 837 1652
Nov 713 1495
Dec 917 1639
Total 10078 18693

2022 Stats
Month Fire EMS
Jan 1120 1758
Feb 697 1325
Mar 775 1463
Apr 787 1454
May 945 1644
Jun 923 1517
Jul 952 1522
Aug 891 1661
Sep 811 1519
Oct 928 1527
Nov 870 1521
Dec 885 1574

2021 Stats
Month Fire EMS
Jan 677 1504
Feb 549 1433
Mar 813 1483
Apr 777 1462
May 908 1461
Jun 871 1518
Jul 922 1685
Aug 957 1605
Sep 864 1608
Oct 927 1543
Nov 768 1369
Dec 830 1694
Total 9863 18365

2020 Stats
Month Fire EMS
Jan 723 1432
Feb 652 1347
Mar 720 1442
Apr 657 1267
May 709 1266
Jun 701 1318
Jul 1006 1429
Aug 969 1390
Sep 793 1386
Oct 778 1402
Nov 721 1294
Dec 730 1417
Total 9159 16390


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LEARN TO BE A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER OR VOLUNTEER EMT
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By Coordinator William Smith
August 13, 2014

This is a controlled, routine exercise, so why can't I stop shaking? I'm crouching in the corner of a dark room alongside 49 other would-be volunteer firefighters. All the outside doors and windows in the house have been bolted shut. The only things I can hear are my own breathing and an ominous crackling as the fire builds to a roar. Twenty feet away, orange and yellow flames reach to the ceiling, briefly illuminating the room. Then there's smoke -- first white, then gray, then pitch-black -- that blocks out the ceiling and begins to descend, dropping lower and lower. The heat becomes almost unbearable, and I can feel the sweat trickling down my chest beneath my coat.

Our instructor tells us to take off a glove and raise that hand to find out why you never, ever stand up in a fire. Down by the ground it's a stifling 200 degrees, but just 18 inches above our heads the temperature rises to 400. I jerk my fingers back down. The smoke is now so thick I can see only inches in front of my face. Keeping one hand on the wall, I follow the other trainees along the perimeter of the room. Finally the door opens; we stumble outside and gasp in the fresh air.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to become a volunteer firefighter in this small town on Fire Island, off New York's Long Island, where my husband spent his summers growing up and where we spend as much of every summer as possible. The first part of the training program consisted of a series of 4-hour Saturday-morning classes and a dozen or so drills involving hoses and hydrants. It wasn't until I arrived at the Suffolk County Fire Academy for 4 days of hands-on exercises that the penny dropped: They were expecting me -- a 41-year-old fashion editor with two kids -- to climb ladders, ax my way though windows, enter burning buildings, and search for "bodies" (aka dummies). I seriously considered giving up then and there. But I had my reasons for staying.

The main one involved a horrible run-in between a truck and a cyclist in downtown Manhattan last June. As my husband and I were walking, I heard the crunch as a tire rolled over the guy's body. After dialing 911 and being transferred from one operator to the next, I started crying out of pure frustration -- I was standing right next to a dying person, and I couldn't do anything to help. If I'd known just a few emergency procedures, maybe I wouldn't have been so useless.

Being so close to a real fire scared the hell out of me, but it was amazing how knowing the rules -- stay down, keep close to the wall, locate the exit -- kept me calm and focused. The only time I felt a surge of panic was when a partner and I were supposed to simulate rescuing an injured firefighter from a basement while blindfolded and breathing from oxygen tanks strapped to our backs. We circled the room, sweeping the floor until we located the body. It was a heavy, floppy, fully clothed mannequin also wearing a tank. I grasped the dummy under the armpits and waited for my partner to secure its legs in a harness, but he was having trouble. The body was too heavy for me to lift myself, so there was nothing I could do but wait.

The same feeling of frustrated helplessness that I'd experienced that day in the city washed over me again, and I felt my heart rate rise and my breathing become choppy. Why did I think I could do this? I forced myself to breathe more slowly. After another few minutes, my partner yelled that the body was secure, and we moved ahead, still bent in a back-straining crouch.

When we finally laid the body on the ground, I stood up and felt something stronger than relief. Dragging that body to safety gave me a sense of mental and physical ability that filled me with confidence. I may never be on the front lines of a raging fire, but when the time comes that someone needs me again -- whether it's one of my children, a neighbor, or a total stranger -- I'll be able to do more than just dial 911.

TO BECOME A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER OR EMT IN CHARLES COUNTY, CALL ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES OFFICE @301-934-3581 FOR MORE INFORMATION....DON'T DELAY; CALL TODAY!!


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