Barriere First Responders Society is continuing to respond to the needs of the surrounding community with the First Responder Course that was recently facilitated and donated by Rescue Ready Education. The cost of the books for the course was covered by general fundraising and hosted at the North Thompson Fall Fair hall from April 17 to 20.
“Four of our members are training to become certified during this past week and the course was also attended by Barriere Fire-Rescue, Little Fort Fire Department, and Kamloops Fire-Rescue volunteer members. Rescue Ready has its students focus on high quality CPR. This means good compression rate, depth, and limiting time off the chest. We instill good verbal communication with clear directions,” said instructor Drew McMartin.
The First Responder course is six days long where members learn to administer things like EPI, Glucagon, Glucose, ASA, Narcan, Ibuprofen, and Tylenol. Also taught are other fundamental lifesaving skills like dealing with airway, breathing, cardiac, and traumatic emergencies.
The course was attended by Barriere First Responders members Azreil Kowtek, Melody Switzer, Steve Brunner, and Liam Waller. Alexis Hovenkamp, captain of Barriere Fire-Rescue also participated in the course, as well as Cory Layton from Kamloops Fire-Rescue and Allan Crane from Little Fort Volunteer Fire Department.
Thompson Nicola Regional Director for Area O, Jill Hayward praised the volunteers, adding,“Barriere First Responders are an amazing group of dedicated community members giving 200 percent to their community. They are hardworking, dedicated, and very much appreciated by residents within this catchment area. We are most fortunate to also have our dedicated fire departments and Search And Rescue, who volunteer their time to help others in their communities, bringing volunteerism and community spirit to the top of the class.”
