Fire Rescue crews train for state certification

Call it going the extra mile to keep Palm Beach residents safe.

Palm Beach Fire Rescue crews have been working on their Vehicle Machine Rescue, or VMR, training to complete state certification, Assistant Chief Sean Baker said.

“This is literally teaching the first responders how to extricate patients from major car accidents, and also entrapment from other types of machinery,” Baker said.

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Leading the program are Palm Beach Fire Rescue Lt. Anthony Curtis and the department’s field training officers.

Crews train on how to use devices including the hydraulic tool known as the "Jaws of Life,' Baker said.

“Generally this is a type of training that happens a little bit maybe in fire school, but what we’ve done as an agency, it’s unlike anyone else: We’ve committed to have 70% of our department placed through this training,” Baker said, adding that usually only a handful of responders in a department would have this training.

When Palm Beach Fire Rescue crews complete the 40-hour training, they will complete a final exam and then receive their state certification, Baker said.

The Fire Rescue department uses money from its training budget to buy the vehicles from local salvage yards, then puts them in various positions to replicate possible scenarios, Baker said.

“There’s nothing better than real-time training for these crews,” he said.

Visual journalist Damon Higgins spent time with the crews on Monday to chronicle their training routines.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Fire Rescue crews train for state certification