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Emergency First Responder Training
Emergency preparedness goes beyond taking care of yourself, it also involves helping in your community. There is lots of work to do when an emergency strikes or a disaster happens, and your community can use trained help. What kind of first responder will you be in your town or city, county state, and country? Start getting trained and find out where you best fit.
When a problem arises at home or around the County, First Responders are there to help. A First Responder is the first person to arrive at an emergency, often before the large emergency vehicles. These people are trained for various situations that can happen here. And they are often volunteers.
What are the opportunities for a first responder in Ouray County? EMT (emergency medical technician), ambulance driver, fire fighter, mountain rescue, vehicle extrication, haz mat (hazardous materials), and water rescue are some of the situations you'll find Ouray County volunteers trained for. And some First Responders are trained in multiple disciplines.
One of the bits of information we are given is to look for health records, often recorded in a vial of life. Most of the time the Vial of Life is found in the person's refrigerator, but sometimes it's kept in the medicine cabinet. You can help us help you by keeping your records up-to-date.
In our regular, daily lives, these first responder duties are important areas for community volunteers to be involved in. We always need new people, so find a place or two where your strengths can be used, get trained and join the crew of your favorite "department". But also be aware there are emergencies that aren't part of our regular, daily lives that will need able-bodies volunteers too. Specifically, I'm thinking of a pandemic flu, like the bird flu, aka H5N1 flu.
The County is going to need lots of people trained in various ways to help in the event of a pandemic that could effect the health of a huge percentage of the county's population. People will be needed to disseminate information, assist with delivering supplies to quarantined families, and even providing direct assistance to effected people. Specific training is needed to be involved in this sort of emergency. Get started now with your involvement. Help your neighbors in the county, and help yourself by being prepared for various emergencies, and be part of one of the County's emergency services teams.
