By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Officials of the Decatur fire and police departments were pleased with the turnouts they received at the recent Bellmont High School Career Day.
“I know Jeff (Sheets, fire chief) was pleased and so was I. It was awesome,” Police Chief Kevin Gerber told city council at a recent meeting.
Sheets, who was unable to attend the council meeting, later told WZBD.com, “We had a good number of students visit us. Many had questions about our work schedule, pay, and how old you need to be to join the fire service.”
Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord offered praise for BHS. “Kudos to the school. They do a great job with this.”
He added that one of the vendors at the event told him they had been to four schools and this one was the best they had done.
In a Facebook post, the police department said: “We had such a fun time meeting students and discussing our profession with them. There were some really good questions asked. such as:
“What inspired you to be an officer?
“How do you handle the fear of a scary situation?
“If you could redo things, would you still choose law enforcement?
“Anytime we get to interact with the youth of our community like this, it is a great opportunity for both of us.”
SPECIAL CLASS: While pleased with the turnout at Career Day, Fire Chief Sheets said his department’s “main focus was the Area 18 Fire Rescue Class held at South Adams. This class is normally for juniors and seniors who want to enter emergency services (Fire and EMS).
“This is a two-year program that gives students the certifications needed to be a firefighter in the State of Indiana. It also will certify them as an EMR (Emergency Medical Responder), the lowest medical certification in the State of Indiana.
“Currently, the class has students from Adams, Wells, and Jay counties. When they complete the two-year program, they will hold certificates as Firefighter I & II, Hazardous Materials Awareness, and Operations, also EMR.
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