There’s nothing quite like learning through hands-on experience especially when it comes to future firefighters and EMS. Around 27 students from Lake Superior College (LSC) got to take an inside look at what’s expected being a first responder. The Lake Superior College Fire Club hosted a Shift Day, where students experience the tasks of firefighters on a daily basis. The last time students got to try the several different emergency scenarios offered was seven years ago.

From house fires, to helping injured kids, or even rescuing people from car accidents, firefighters answer a variety of calls daily. Lake superior college students got their hands dirty training as first responders in a 12-hour shift. Ava Krizaj, the president of Lake Superior College Fire Club, says this program is incredibly beneficial to help aspiring first responders.

“We’re running structure fires, car fires, auto-accidences, medicals, wildland fires. We’re showing them everything that they are going to be able to do. There’s nothing better to prepare us for this career than to be able to run calls all day,” Krizaj said. “I’m on Duluth Fire and I’m a student here. We didn’t have this when I was a first year before I got hired. I think it would have been really valuable before I actually got on the job to be able to run some of these mock calls.”

The goal of these mock calls is to prepare students to become confident personnel. They will be capable of responding to any sort of emergency, even if it’s not a fire. There are 15 different scenarios the LSC students experience throughout the day. Ronnie Case says he and his fellow classmates learned skills, from everything like delivering a baby, to running into a burning building.

“Something I’ve learned, firefighting is about 70% EMS calls. They’re part of the first responder family. We are simulating a low angle rescue. We had a patient that fell down the hill, maybe hit his head or something like that,” Case said. “So we have ropes set up, we got EMS down there with the patients. I’m a rock climber so I particularly enjoy the ropes, the knots and getting this rope system set up so that we can haul them up here and get them into an ambulance.”

The LSC Fire Club’s Shift Day wouldn’t be possible without the help of 48 volunteers. This includes Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj. He says by taking charge and leading by example with volunteering this weekend. He hopes other people will feel motivated to help out with the program in the fall.

“Sometimes our own people, they feel like the chiefs get a little bit out of touch. They’re not wrong. We sit behind the desk and, ‘Oh, how bad can it be?’. But then to put on an air pack and to be out here for 10-12 hours. Actually going back to the operational side of firefighting is a little different.”

This LSC program is in need of more volunteers. Whether it’s professional fire crews, or people willing to be patients in medical emergency scenarios. Chief Krizaj says this program wouldn’t be possible without support from communities in the Northland.

“It’s fun for the students to actually work side by side with people who are in the career, whether that’s actually on a paid department like Duluth or on a volunteer department or some combination department. They get to actually rub elbows with the professionals, and it’s great for us too to develop some relationships with them.”

Lake Superior College’s registration for fall classes opened up earlier this week. There’s still time for students to sign up for the Fire Technology and Administration Program. The next Shift Day will be November 1st where they can get that experience of what firefighters do day-in-and-day-out.