Mass. Maritime students help Cape, off-Cape towns with planning, firefighting
BUZZARDS BAY — A team of cadets from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy are making their way into the community by becoming involved in multiple emergency preparedness programs.
While one team helped the town of Wellfleet, other teams are assisting firefighters in emergency situations.
Students developed comprehensive emergency management plan for Wellfleet
A team of cadets from an Emergency Management Planning program, as part of their internship, developed a comprehensive emergency management plan for Wellfleet.
According to Thomas F. Lennon, a professor and chair of the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department at Mass. Maritime, the plan will help Wellfleet before, during and after a disaster, laying out all the risks and how to mitigate and prepare for those risks.
The town’s plan will define who does what, when, where, and how in order to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the effects of natural, technological and human-caused hazards. The cadets presented the document to the Wellfleet Select Board in December when the plan received board approval.
“They were great to work with; it was a great experience and it was a good way for the cadets to see how the government works. Many of them will be involved in law enforcement or emergency management soon, which is always good to have,” said Michael Hurley, the chief of police in Wellfleet. “It was a good experience for both us and our younger generation to be involved in helping and leading.”
The college began working with Barnstable County eight years ago, but has now expanded to working with approximately 25 to 30 communities every year, Lennon said.
The students help prepare their emergency plans as well as other exercises related to emergency preparedness.
College students respond to fires in local community
In February, cadets responded to house fire calls with the Onset and Wareham Fire Departments. In addition to the house fires, cadets responded to medical runs, fire alarm activations, and water leaks over the same 24-hour time span when temperatures plummeted to below zero.
According to Lennon, they have had a firefighter program at the college for the last seven years, originating with Bourne and Wareham. Every year, 10 to 15 freshmen apply to participate in the program and they go to a fire training academy run by the town of Onset.
The cadets train for four to six months, and after completing the training program, they are eligible to take their national firefighter one and firefighter two certifications. If they pass the tests, the town of Onset hires students to work as call firefighters during their second, third and fourth years at the college.
“I had no idea cadets were working for us, because it is a seamless transition, we don’t even notice that they are cadets and not firefighters; it works really well,” said David Pelonzi, assistant chief of the Bourne Fire Department. “It's good because it helps expose them to emergency services, emergency management, public safety, and we get assistance through having the students work with us.”
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Firefighting, planning are duties Mass. Maritime students take on
