Oconee Fire Rescue Personnel Graduate from Medical First Responder Course

The following is a news release from Deputy Fire Chief Mark Melvin:

Oconee County Fire Rescue held their annual appreciation dinner at the end of April and recognized the latest graduates of the Emergency Medical First Responder Course.

Nineteen students completed the course that consisted of 80 hours of medical course work and practicals. In addition to the classroom instruction, each student completed 24 hours of clinical ambulance ride along time with National EMS. The 24 hours of ride along time allowed the students to take what they learned in class and use it on the emergency scene while under the supervision of the paramedics of National EMS.

The class was taught in the evening and on an occasional Saturday to meet the needs of the volunteer fire rescue students. The class was lead by Instructor Glenn Henry with additional guidance from instructors Ben Ewing, Lisa Henry and Len DeRamus.

“We are proud of these volunteers, as they took time away from family and friends to attend this course,”  Fire Chief Bruce Thaxton said, adding, “these 19 volunteers are now serving the community by responding to medical emergencies in Oconee County.”

Oconee County Fire Rescue currently has over 165 volunteers and 86 of them are medically trained.

The new Oconee County Fire Rescue Medical First Responders are Steve Barnhart, Sheriff Scott Berry, Alecia Cain, Spence Dalton, Bill Evans, Paul Goetz, Shane Goodman, Gerell Goolsby, Beth Hale, Tommy Huff, Karla Hulsey, Nick Lynn, Brooke Merola, Matt Payne, Mark Smith, Brian Stewart, Sam Stewart,
Jason Still and Chief Deputy Lee Weems.

If interested in volunteering with Oconee County Fire Rescue, contact Chief Thaxton at 706-769-3975.