Durango Fire and Rescue is an establishment with the mission of helping the public to stay safe by preventing and mending dangerous situations. Durango Fire and Rescue goes about this by responding to emergency 911 calls through dispatching ambulance teams for medical transport or teams of fire fighters.
Throughout my internship, I will be experiencing a variety of roles that the men of Durango Fire and Rescue play in the community. I will be moving from department to department observing and learning what it takes to operate on an ambulance, fire prevention group, and how to operate in other emergency situations. Durango Fire and Rescue’s EMS devision’s goals are to bring rapid, quality care to those in need. EMS is involved in more that 85% of emergency calls answered by Durango Fire and Rescue. The fire prevention devision’s goal is to keep the community safe by making sure buildings are properly inspected and have satisfactory fire escape routes, plans, etc. There is also a good chance I could be working with the technicians that work on the emergency vehicles to make sure they are ready for calls. This includes working on the performance of each piece of machinery whether it be the ingines to the hydraulics.
With this change in roles from week to week, I will be shadowing a different mentor for each department. These mentors are going to be people that I can answer my questions and possibly help me through struggles I am having throughout my internship such as in the final project or other problems on a day to day basis.
This internship, with the help from my mentors, can help me judge if this line of work is right for me. I plan to do similar work in the future whether in the military, such as military police, law enforcement, and of course Fire and Rescue. These different organizations share characteristics that other desk jobs do not offer. The requirements of physical and mental fitness are important for one to meet when in this line of work such as being able to stay calm while helping a stranger through the worst day in their life. It can be very hard for anyone to cope with what these men may see every day.
In my project, I will be showing what it takes for these men to do what they do. This will be through photos, stories, examples of gear, and interactive exercise activities. Although I would like to have activities such as an obstacle course, I cannot develop the details until further meeting with the men that will be my mentors. I would also like to be able to discuss fire safety and what I learned while shadowing the fire preventions group. With this project, I would like to show the public what goes on within Durango Fire and Rescue. Before my interview and research, I had very little knowledge of all the jobs that this organization does other than the common knowledge that they fight fires.
There are several steps that I need to take to prepare for this internship and project. These include talking to the men at Durango Fire and Rescue about the physical and mental requirements needed for the job. Another step is getting into shape, myself. It is going to be a very difficult task because of recent injury but it is a challenge I am willing to take. I am very excited for this internship so that I can see what these men do to help the community. I hope it is something that I find that I enjoy and later pursue this line of work in the future.
My final project ended up being a presentation on my experiences that I had. I included a few pictures in a slideshow but the main part was me spreading the word of how much I loved it. I spoke about my day to day activities which can be read in the Daily Updates section. I feel i did a really good job of setting other students up for wanting to intern at the fire department. The pictures that I showed during my presentation can be found in the Media Gallery portion of this site.
Throughout my internship, I will be experiencing a variety of roles that the men of Durango Fire and Rescue play in the community. I will be moving from department to department observing and learning what it takes to operate on an ambulance, fire prevention group, and how to operate in other emergency situations. Durango Fire and Rescue’s EMS devision’s goals are to bring rapid, quality care to those in need. EMS is involved in more that 85% of emergency calls answered by Durango Fire and Rescue. The fire prevention devision’s goal is to keep the community safe by making sure buildings are properly inspected and have satisfactory fire escape routes, plans, etc. There is also a good chance I could be working with the technicians that work on the emergency vehicles to make sure they are ready for calls. This includes working on the performance of each piece of machinery whether it be the ingines to the hydraulics.
With this change in roles from week to week, I will be shadowing a different mentor for each department. These mentors are going to be people that I can answer my questions and possibly help me through struggles I am having throughout my internship such as in the final project or other problems on a day to day basis.
This internship, with the help from my mentors, can help me judge if this line of work is right for me. I plan to do similar work in the future whether in the military, such as military police, law enforcement, and of course Fire and Rescue. These different organizations share characteristics that other desk jobs do not offer. The requirements of physical and mental fitness are important for one to meet when in this line of work such as being able to stay calm while helping a stranger through the worst day in their life. It can be very hard for anyone to cope with what these men may see every day.
In my project, I will be showing what it takes for these men to do what they do. This will be through photos, stories, examples of gear, and interactive exercise activities. Although I would like to have activities such as an obstacle course, I cannot develop the details until further meeting with the men that will be my mentors. I would also like to be able to discuss fire safety and what I learned while shadowing the fire preventions group. With this project, I would like to show the public what goes on within Durango Fire and Rescue. Before my interview and research, I had very little knowledge of all the jobs that this organization does other than the common knowledge that they fight fires.
There are several steps that I need to take to prepare for this internship and project. These include talking to the men at Durango Fire and Rescue about the physical and mental requirements needed for the job. Another step is getting into shape, myself. It is going to be a very difficult task because of recent injury but it is a challenge I am willing to take. I am very excited for this internship so that I can see what these men do to help the community. I hope it is something that I find that I enjoy and later pursue this line of work in the future.
My final project ended up being a presentation on my experiences that I had. I included a few pictures in a slideshow but the main part was me spreading the word of how much I loved it. I spoke about my day to day activities which can be read in the Daily Updates section. I feel i did a really good job of setting other students up for wanting to intern at the fire department. The pictures that I showed during my presentation can be found in the Media Gallery portion of this site.