The Jonesboro Fire Department has been responding to medical calls since 2008. Jonesboro Fire Department Chief Marty Hamrick says shortly after that, they started training new hires to be certified in EMT. That training, along with rookie firefighter training, took three months in Camden.
They then switched to having rookie training in town. Now, the department has partnered with Black River Technical College to have their firefighters trained in-house in EMT.
โSo, now we are keeping them here, so they are closer to their family, they are closer to us as a department, and the ones, once they have graduated from rookie school, got their basic firefighter certifications, we can then put them on one of the rigs, and they can start working and getting some experience,โ said Hamrick.
Hamrick said that for those who have already completed rookie training, they can be trained for EMT throughout the day. โAnd as they are going through EMT school, during the day when they are in school, they are doing EMT work, as soon as thatโs over, if they are on duty, they return to the truck and continue making runs and making a difference,โ said Hamrick.
