By Brenda Erdahl
To aid in the protection of life and property is the role of the firefighter/EMT. It’s a position that requires dedication, discipline and at times heroism. The volunteer Maple Lake Fire Department is fortunate to have recruited four new members to its distinguished ranks: Landon Caughey, Aaron Fobbe, Wendy Lynch and Chris Schmidt.
To join the department each of the four had to go through an interview process and then had to be voted in by the current members. The new members are then invited to participate in calls and learn as much as they can, Caughey said. From there they must complete an EMT course and fire training.
Schmidt described the EMT training as “extremely vigorous” and compared it to a full semester college course that covers everything from treating asthma symptoms to a mass casualty terrorist event. The fire training is roughly a six-month term for completion and covers basics and advanced fire response along with basic EMS skills.
Qualifications for the job are first and foremost, a passion to help without expectation of anything in return except a desire to better the community around you, Schmidt said.
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