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Captain Ann Segers
and Sergeant Chad Arp, fire safety educators for Cherokee County Fire-EMA,
work with all age groups teaching fire safety and burn injury prevention.
For children attending daycare, pre-school and the primary grades, Freddie
the Firetruck is used in presentations. Freddie is a remote controlled
3 ft. high fire truck that talks to children about fire safety and also
dances and sings songs about fire safety. As a finale to the program,
the Friendly Firefighter is demonstrated by Chad. This demonstration consists
of showing the children the turnout gear firefighters wear and that the
firefighters are their friends.
During the months of October (Fire Prevention
Month) and November, Ann and Chad take the Fire Safety House (a 30 ft.
trailer) to every elementary school in the county for the Kindergarten
children. The House is used to teach children the proper techniques of
what to do in the event of a fire and how to get out if there is smoke
in their home. Artificial smoke (which is harmless) is used in the simulation.
All fifth grade students in the elementary
schools are taught an extensive fire safety education program by Ann and
Chad with the help of firefighter Bryan Thomas. This program is part of
the school curriculum and the grade received for fire safety is part of
the student's Health or Science grade.
Ann and Chad also provide counseling to youthful
fire starters and their families. Ann is also responsible for scheduling
station tours for the fire stations.
Programs are presented to senior citizens
as well. Daycare provider classes are taught to those who work in daycares,
and Ann and Chad also speak to various civic groups in the county. Chad
is also a CPR instructor and teaches CPR classes.
In addition to these programs, they also
distribute smoke alarms free of charge to those in need. In the spring
and fall when it is time to change your clocks, it is recommended that
the batteries in the smoke alarms be changed. Free batteries to those
who need them are also distributed. For those in need of smoke alarms
for the hearing impaired, sources are made available to receive them.
Contact the Cherokee County Fire Prevention
office at (770) 479-6119 for more information on any of the programs or
visit www.cherokeega-ema.org.
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