Forgotten Coast unites for fire safety

Gathering for Saturday’s training are, from left, St. George Island’s Michael Williams, John Alonzo, Jason Timbert, and George Joslin; South Gulf Fire Rescue’s Marianne Warhol, Mike Barrett, Jennifer Mobley, John Ehrman, Gary Freer, Ed Hill, Sara Freer, Machelle Campbell, Tim Moore, Dan Mobley; Dalkeith’s Tripp Barrier; and Gulf County EMS’s Jarrod Wester, and Leah Bowser. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

South Gulf Fire Rescue Chief Mike Barrett, left, speaks with Dalkeith Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tripp Barrier. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

Gulf County EMS and South Gulf Fire Rescue first responders provide rehab for the St. George Island Fire Rescue crew using cool vests that circulate ice water to cool them down. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

Jarrod Wester, a captain and paramedic with Gulf County EMS, and volunteer firefighter in Wewahitchka, at right, walks South Gulf Fire Rescue driver/ engineer Gary Freer through the process of fixing a fouled hose. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

South Gulf Fire Rescue first responders John Ehrman, EMS Lt. Jennifer Mobley, and Marianne Warhol evaluate the condition of a training manikin meant to be an unconscious victim brought in by the rescue team. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

South Gulf Fire Rescue firefighter Zach Mahoney executes an evacuation of a training manikin meant to represent a victim. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

Chief Jason Timbert, left, Capt. Michael Williams, and firefighter George Joslin, of St. George Island Volunteer Fire Department complete their training simulation that involved evacuating an injured, unconscious victim from a burning building. [ Mary Akin | The Star ]

On Saturday April 19, members of South Gulf Fire Rescue, Dalkeith Fire Department, St. George Island Volunteer Fire Department and Gulf County EMS joined together for fire operations training at the Port St. Joe Junior Senior High School football stadium. 

The fire stations and emergency medical crews often draw help from one another in emergency situations, and by training together, they continue strengthening that connection. All fire departments throughout the Franklin and Gulf counties are invited to participate in these training exercises. 

“Firefighters are one family, only separated by geography. “We are a band of brothers and sisters,” said South Gulf Fire Rescue Chief Mike Barrett. 

St. George Island Fire Chief Jason Timbert echoed his colleague. “Mutual aid training is imperative to the safety of our communities,” he said. “This training allows each department to focus on communication and tactics between multiple departments, which allows for a more effective fire response which will lead to a greater ability to save lives and property.”

There were three sectors involved in the training operation; pump operations, rehab, and fire attack. The departments tackled exercises that included unified and incident command, size-up, staging, search and rescue, pump operations, fire attack line deployment, rehab operations, and emergency medical care. The football stadium bleachers served as a way to simulate ascending and descending multi-level structures common around the Forgotten Coast where even single floor buildings are built on pier foundations.

South Gulf Fire Rescue team worked with the Gulf County EMS team to emphasize the importance of emergency incident rehabilitation, which is the process of rehab in fire incidents involving medical evaluations to test firefighters’ pulse, oxygen intake, and blood pressure. Vitals are checked in order to clear firefighters for service. 

Rehab was performed before the start of training and then between each operation. Along with checking vital signs, rehab provides rest, rehydration, and nourishment to ensure firefighters are ready to return to action.

“After we are finished with training, we come back and have it done again so they keep a running tab of where we are,” said South Gulf Fire Rescue Lt. Sara Freer. “The people in charge of rehab are the ones who say whether or not we are ready to go back in service.”

An important addition to the rehab process were the cooling vests, provided by the South Gulf Fire Rescue team. Typically used at every large incident, the vests “are made… to cool the core of your body down,” said Barrett. “The extremities need to be cooled down but so does your core because of your heart, lungs, kidneys, all of it.” 

South Gulf Fire Rescue EMS Lt. Jennifer Mobley said that because of the device, rehab time is reduced, allowing firefighters to quickly get back into the field. “The normal time to get a firefighter in and do the rehab is about 15 minutes,” Mobley said. “With these cool vests, I can take that down to five minutes.” 

The rehab team can provide cool vests for up to six individuals.

After hours of hard training, the departments met back at the South Gulf Fire Rescue station for lunch where everyone enjoyed hotdogs and snacks. The final activity in their collaborative gathering had each member from both fire departments and the EMS crews share their feedback, regarding the training exercises, and what they learned. “We are thankful to the South Gulf Volunteer Fire Department for hosting this training and look forward to strengthening our partnerships with all departments in the region,” said Timbert.