Firefighters, police and ambulance personnel undergo extensive training before their public service begins.

Whether working as an unpaid volunteer firefighter or emergency responder, a modestly paid municipal police officer or a better-compensated state police officer, the strenuous training reflects their dedication to the communities they serve.

Residents of Western Pennsylvania are fortunate that much of the training for emergency personnel is available right in Butler’s back yard, at the Public Safety Training Facility at Butler County Community College.

Although there are no requirements in Pennsylvania to be a volunteer firefighter, departments set their own standards.Those typically include at least the essentials of firefighting — an 88-hour course, said Jaye Graham, fire training program coordinator at BC3’s training facility, which opened in June 2002.The classes give a basic knowledge on a variety of subjects, Graham said.“Essentials starts at the basic point of the organizational structure of a fire department,” Graham said.“It then goes into their safety equipment, the different types of fire department equipment, hand tools, hoses, nozzles, chemistry of fire, fire behavior, water application, self-contained breathing apparatus, ladders, search procedures, water supply, sprinkler systems, building construction, rescue, ropes, knots. …”There is no charge for the courses, except for the textbooks, he said.The facility also offers structure burn classes. Those include four hours of lecture on fire travel, fire behavior and hose management, he said.“It’s an interior fire attack class,” he said, with eight hours of “live fire attack.”The class at the training facility uses its specialized burn building.“Primarily, what you use is pallets, straw or cardboard,” he said. “It simulates doing interior fire attack.”Graham said a department training its own firefighters might use an “acquired structure,” such as a home or building donated for the purpose of fire training before it is demolished.The building at BC3’s facility, however, is not set ablaze.“You use the same materials, pallets, straw or cardboard,” he said.He said the training is realistic and similar to what a firefighter would encounter in a real fire.Graham said advanced classes are also offered at the BC3 facility. These include courses in incident command, vehicle rescue, trench rescue and confined space rescue.“The bare minimum a student should take is the essentials of firefighting and structure burn class,” he said.Graham said fire departments have their own policy for driving fire trucks, but no special driver’s license is required.He said the BC3 facility offers an emergency vehicle operator’s course, which is a 16-hour class.“The class is not mandated, but is recommended,” he said.Graham said each fire department has its own requirements. Larger and paid departments with career firefighters have their own requirements, which are “uniquely different.”“Most make their firefighters go through their academy” in a larger department, he said. Smaller departments have “in-house training,” which includes classes similar to the essentials of firefighting and structure burn classes offered at BC3.Graham, who is fire chief for the Chippewa Township Volunteer Fire Department in Beaver County, said his department requires drivers to take the classes and also train on the department’s own equipment.George Smith, Butler Township’s fire marshal, said all five of the volunteer fire departments that serve that township require the essentials of firefighting class. The structure burn class is also “unofficially required.”Butler Township is served by the Greenwood Village, Lyndora, Mercer Road, Meridian and South Butler departments.The Lyndora department has an aerial truck, so their drivers take a truck company operations course at the BC3 facility.Smith said that in 2004, firefighters in the five departments completed 13,262 hours of training, some “in house” and some at BC3.About half of that was the essentials and structure burn classes for new volunteers, and the other half was continuing education for veterans of the departments.The five departments responded to 1,303 EMS and fire calls in 2004, Smith said.He said the average length of time a volunteer stays with a fire department is 6½ years.“In the old days, they’d stay 20 years,” he said.Fire chiefs, on the other hand, tend to stay around much longer. Tim Sapienza, for example, has been fire chief for the Harmony Volunteer Fire Department nearly 30 years, Smith said.“His father was chief prior to Tim,” Smith said.Smith said volunteers come from all walks of life.“It’s a cross-section of people,” he said. “Lawyers, doctors, nurses, business people, police, tradesmen, mill workers, all kinds.”Asked what seems to motivate people to volunteer for such hard and dangerous work, Smith said it is a variety of things.“Self satisfaction,” he said, and “devotion to the community. A lot of it is handed down through families.”He said the volunteers tend to be “community oriented.”“In the old days, the fire station was the center of the community,” he said.

Emergency medical service personnel are required to meet stringent qualifications at different levels, said Vern Smith, director of EMS and police programs at the BC3 facility.“There are predominantly three levels of initial certification of EMS in Pennsylvania,” Smith said.“The first level is a first responder,” he said. “These individuals are going to get to the patient before the ambulance arrives.”He said the first-responder course is a 48-hour class. Certification is good for three years and can be renewed with continuing education.“The next level is the emergency medical technician,” he said. “That program is 126 hours in length. This position would be an ambulance attendant. It’s a basic life-support level.“They can do no invasive procedures except assist the patient with certain medications,” such as nitroglycerin pills for a person having a heart attack, a shot for someone suffering a severe allergic reaction, such as from a bee sting.“They can also assist the patient with oxygen,” he said.To drive an ambulance, the attendant is required to take a 16-hour emergency vehicle operation class, plus a four-hour hazardous materials awareness class.Certification is good for three years, and is renewable with continuing education.“The next level is the EMT paramedic level,” Smith said. “That program is approximately 1,200 hours in length.”A paramedic can perform advanced procedures, such as start IV’s, administer medication, and invasive operations such as opening airways, pediatric resuscitation and trauma resuscitation.“Upon successful completion, they would be certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Health,” Smith said. Paramedics must undergo continuing education each year, he added.Smith said there are other advanced courses available, such as trauma programs, rescue courses, and pediatric programs.“The big one right now is weapons of mass destruction tactical EMS,” he said.He said every ambulance has minimum staffing requirements.“If they’re licensed as a basic life support unit, they must have EMT staffing 24/7,” he said. “If it’s licensed as an advanced life support unit, they must have a paramedic available 24/7.”Tuition at the BC3 facility for first responders is $55, Smith said. Tuition for an EMT is $75, and a paramedic, $500.“That’s just tuition,” he said. “It doesn’t include textbooks.”Smith said employment opportunities are limited for basic levels, but are substantial for paramedics.

Smith, the director of EMS and police programs at the BC3 facility, said for a person to be a police officer, a high school diploma is required. Most municipalities require some college, usually an associate’s degree or its equivalent in college credit hours.Most officers major in criminology, he said.He said officers must complete a municipal police-training program, known as ACT 120, which is not currently offered at BC3.He said the closest institution to offer that program is Indiana (Pa.) University.“But if you want to be a police officer in Penn Township, for example, you could attend Butler County Community College and then get your ACT 120 at IUP,” Smith said.He said tuition for the ACT 120 program is about $3,000. It can be taken full-time in 19 to 20 weeks. The program can also be completed part-time or on weekends.Besides offering the degree in criminology, Smith said the Public Safety Training Facility offers continuing and special training, such as a tactical training program, training in school violence, use of Taser guns, high-risk entry and a class on DNA.Cadets accepted at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy are paid $1,048 every two weeks during their 27-week resident training program at the PSP Academy in Hershey. But the eligibility requirements are tough.Applicants must be between 21 and 41 years old, a Pennsylvania resident, and have an associate’s degree or 60 credited hours. The college requirement can be waived for full-time municipal officers with two years of experience.Part of the college requirement can be waived for other officers, such as corrections officers, liquor enforcement officers, probation and parole officers and Fish and Game Commission officers.Physical fitness tests, polygraph tests, a background investigation, medical evaluation and psychological evaluation are also required before admission.Cadets must also follow strict rules on personal appearance.Men’s hair must be short, and not touch the ears, eyebrows or a shirt collar. Sideburns may not be longer than the middle of the earlobe. Beards and mustaches are prohibited.Women’s hair can be longer than men’s, but cannot be below the collar. Makeup is prohibited.The starting salary for a beginning trooper hired after July 1, 2004, is $45,546, plus an annual $500 clothing allowance, overtime pay and a shift differential.During the first year of employment, they receive 10 vacation days, 13 paid holidays and 15 paid sick days.For information, check the PSP Web site on the Internet at psp.state.pa.us.