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It can be ahot ol’ time anytime
Firefighters do much more than extinguish blazes
BY PAT KIMBROUGH
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – It’s a
question that many High Point Fire Department employees have probably been
asked. Battalion Chief Julian King, for one, has heard it plenty of times.
“People want to know, ‘Why do
you send the fire trucks to a wreck or a medical call?’ ” he
said. “We’ve got 14 stations strategically placed throughout the city, and
most of the time, when you call 911, we’re going to
be there before the police or the ambul ance.” Such is the life of the modern firefighter.
In High Point and departments across
the country, firefighters’ jobs involve much more than extinguishing blaz es.
Over the past three decades, they have
taken on the role of first responder to all manner of emergency calls:
traffic accidents, heart attacks, strokes, drug overdoses, child births and
countless other types of medical emergencies.
High
Point also has established specially trained teams
of firefighters to handle underwater recovery operations, hazardous
materials and high-angle, confined space and trench rescue operations.
Departments across the country
were in the midst of transitions into their new roles around the time High
Point Deputy Chief Martha Younts was hired in 1981.
She recalled that she was
unique at the time because she had earned her EMT certification in college –
something that’s now a prerequisite for all firefighters. “(The change) was
basically to help out the people in the community,” Younts
said. “The fire service could respond quickly since it had so many trucks.”
pkimbrough@hpe.com |888-3531
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