SALISBURY — Students looking to get hands-on experience as a first responder will be eager to get applications in for Salisbury’s safety academy as officials have announced it will be returning for a second year this summer.
“We’re excited to get this going again and get it out to even more individuals and more kids,” Salisbury firefighter C.J. Reusch said.
The safety academy, run as a collaborative effort between the Salisbury Fire Department, Salisbury Police Department, Salisbury Beach lifeguards, and Cataldo Ambulance, is set to run from July 14 to 17.
“We’ve tried to build upon what we had last year to be able to incorporate as much as we possibly can with hands-on stuff for the kids,” Reusch said.
Much like the inaugural year of the academy, students will spend four days focused on a different aspect of being a first responder.
“We’ll have hands on experience for the kids for EMS, police, fire, lifeguards, and then we’re also going to try to incorporate a visit to the Coast Guard station this year,” Reusch said.
Reusch, who orchestrated the program with Salisbury Fire Capt. Andrew Murphy and Parks and Recreation Director Jenn Roketenetz, said they also hope to work with the State Police’s arson unit and helicopter again.
“It’s definitely going to be a lot jam packed into four days,” Reusch said.
Applications will be accepted beginning April 1, with the program open to anyone.
“We do give first preference to Salisbury residents,” Roketenetz said.
This year’s application process will a bit more streamlined seeing organizers are no longer requiring an essay explaining why a student wants to participate.
“As we moved along with that, we realized that some of the potential applicants were a little hung up on the idea of writing an essay, and that’s absolutely not the intention of the essay,” Roketenetz said. “We’re just asking kids why they want to be part of the Safety Academy,” Roketenetz said.
They will be taking around 12 to 15 students, according to Roketenetz, who explained smaller groups should maximize the experience.
“It requires a lot of oversight by the different professionals, and we want every kid to have ample opportunity to experience the equipment and the learning sessions,” Roketenetz said.
Roketenetz said the program has already had success inspiring students to take a first responder career, sharing that one participant from the inaugural camp is currently training to be a firefighter while another is working to join the Coast Guard.
“That’s what confirms that you did it right,” Roketenetz said.