Batesville Fire and Rescue are working to recruit more volunteer firefighters, an initative that has prompted high school students to participate in a work-based learning program.
The goal of the initiative is to address the local fire department’s ongoing struggle with recruitment and retention, with roughly 80% of the Batesville Fire and Rescue team consisting of volunteers.
The Batesville Fire Department consists of full-time, part-time and paid on-call staff. The department serves multiple municipalities, including multiple parts of Ripley County and Franklin County.
Joel Justice, Batesville firefighter and EMT said: “There’s only enough firefighters to cover that 150 square miles, like today we only had five full-timers on shift.
“Half of the crew that came in those are volunteers, so if we didn’t have those volunteers today, we would be short-staffed.”
Batesville Fire and Rescue has partnered with Milan High School, Oldenburg Academy and Batesville High School to train students about all aspects of the fire service.
Irene Boyd is a senior at Milan High School, who comes to Batesville Fire and Rescue four times a week during part of the school day.
She said she wants to encourage more women and younger adults to consider the field. After getting her ETM basics, she wants to join Batesville part-time and work her way up to becoming a paramedic.
Boyd said: “Sometimes it can be EMS, Firefighting, going through work rescue but we’ll normally get straight into that.
“I’ll move the cot, carry the bags, so while I can’t do any of the in-depth EMT stuff, I try my best to be a helpful part of the team if I can.”
“I pay close attention to how they talk to patients and take IVs,” said Boyd about the firefighters.
“We should have more people; to show people like me, females and younger people, I suffer from severe anxiety, you can overcome stuff like that”.
According to Batesville Fire and Rescue, there are more than 800 volunteer and rescue departments in the state. Students have to be at least a junior in High School to join a work-based learning program. A second apprentice from Oldenburg Academy will begin the program this month.
Boyd added of the experience: “Drop all your fears and run into it like crazy because even if it doesn’t turn out to be the thing that you want, you got the experience to help others.”
To combat the growing staffing crisis, Batesville Fire and Rescue has partnered with local high schools, allowing students to participate in a work-based learning program.
Irene Boyd, a senior at Milan High School said that her participation in the program was proof that people like her, females and younger people, could play a role in the fire service.
