Fired Up: Female Firefighters in SC Feel Heart, Not Heat

By KELLY DUNCAN, Index-Journal

GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) — The hearth service isn’t a weak job. Simply ask Kody Gibson and Sydney Brown, the Metropolis of Greenwood’s latest firefighters.

“And that’s not only for females, it’s for anyone. Anyone can wrestle on this job. It comes right down to your mindset and method. You need to need this job and put within the work for it,” Gibson stated.

Gibson is not any stranger to the hearth service. Earlier than becoming a member of the Metropolis of Greenwood Fireplace Division, she spent about 4 years with the Metropolis of Newberry Fireplace Division.

“My household may be very closely concerned in first responders. We’ve respiratory therapists, nurses in our household. My dad was a volunteer firefighter. Me and my siblings had simply joined the Explorer group that Newberry supplied and it type of simply sparked my curiosity from there,” she stated.

“I’d met a number of the individuals who labored with this division by means of courses all through the years and I suppose I simply favored what Greenwood was providing. I favored their mission, the aggression of the division. They’ve the identical mindset that I’ve, which is that we’re for the folks. So I made a decision I needed to progress in my profession and this division might supply me that.”

Brown, initially from Greenville, landed in Greenwood after seeing a place open on the town’s web site. She stated since she spends most of her weekends in Greenwood, why not apply for the job? She has been with the division for about two weeks and is making the transition from a volunteer to profession hearth division.

“The division I got here from, it was not a predominately busy division so they might have had a pair calls on daily basis or two. The primary distinction is with a volunteer division, that they had full-time guys there so I didn’t have to reply to each name that was despatched out. I might go on whichever one I actually needed to,” Brown stated. “The distinction right here is that you simply’ve received to reply to each name that’s despatched out. You’ve received to place within the work in addition to — no less than this division — they’re very heavy on the coaching the place volunteering wasn’t that heavy on it. You’ve received extra coaching that you simply do right here than I did with volunteer.”

And since becoming a member of the division, Gibson stated she had conversations with Brown to make her transition smoother.

“I advised her you’ve gotten a style of the volunteer facet, however the profession facet is lots totally different than volunteering with a bunch of men after which coming in and dealing a 24-hour shift with them. I simply gave her some tips on the best way to do her greatest on this profession. I advised her if she ever wanted any assist simply to let me know,” she stated.

Gibson stated she want to see extra females be part of the hearth service.

“From my standpoint, I’m all for girls doing any job, however I’m not large on gender roles, I suppose you might say. I need females within the hearth service, however you have got to have the ability to do that job. I don’t care what gender or race you might be, in case you can’t do the job, don’t join,” she stated.

“The way in which that your first couple of weeks of coaching is that they push not solely females, however they push males the identical manner. They simply need to see in case you’re succesful and capable of do the job and that you simply received’t give up in robust conditions. It’s not one thing that me as a feminine has to show, it’s one thing that me as a fireman has to show — that I’m prepared and that I need to do that,” Brown stated.

Shifting ahead, Gibson and Brown stated they need to proceed studying and coaching to allow them to be the most effective firefighters doable.

“I’m a brand new fireman, so proper now my aim is simply to realize the expertise and information that’s required to truly do the job effectively since I don’t have very a lot expertise,” Brown stated.

And for anybody contemplating a profession in hearth service, Gibson’s largest recommendation is to do your analysis.

“Discover a division that’s open to you being there. Discover the folks that need to make it easier to and in case you can’t discover them there, then go some other place as a result of there’s folks within the hearth service who need females within the hearth service — we now have a spot right here. And realizing you don’t must earn it. It’s right here, we simply must boss up and get it,” she stated.

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