DUANESBURG, NY - The Duanesburg Junior/Senior High School in Duanesburg, NY offers a special elective class called “Life in the ER”. Throughout the year, the instructors of the course collaborate with several guest lecturers from numerous industries in the emergency medical world, including fire, law-enforcement, EMS, and the healthcare industries. All of these industries are currently looking to educate and create an interest in order to find new personnel to join their field.

During an educational lecture and event held on July 2nd, the volunteer firefighters and EMTs from Delanson Vol. Fire Co. and the Duanesburg Vol. Ambulance Corps came together to show students what is done during auto extrication with multiple patients suffering from significant injuries. With a total of three groups and three patients in the vehicle, each group got to experience the same scenario in order to get an equal experience and give them a taste of what these firefighters and EMTs go through during calls like this. Students that attended the demonstration were able to utilize some of their skills in collaboration with the ambulance on site as they learned how to manage a traumatically injured patient and started the transport process.

Firefighters began by extricating the driver, removing the front door of the vehicle with a spreader tool near the door latch and a quick cut to both hinges on the driver door. After the door was removed, students made their way over to the vehicle and began assisting firefighters in removing the driver safely onto a backboard. Once the driver was safely removed from the vehicle the students began to package and move the patient on a stretcher to an ambulance. Once inside the ambulance, EMTs began to go over the crucial steps they take to evaluate the patient.

Assistant Chief of the Delanson Vol. Fire Co., Adam Fink, stated, “These types of collaborative efforts are crucial today. The fire service needs more classes like this to gain interest in the youth in the schools today in order to assist communities in need. There is a job in the fire service for everyone today and we hope to have some of these awesome students join the ranks of the departments in the area.”

At the end of the event a very special award was presented to Delanson FD's Lieutenant Aidan Enders for Youth Provider of the Year. Due to the Covid Pandemic, Aidan was not able to receive the 2020 award for his hard work and efforts.