Retired turnout and other gear needed

[fireemsworld1]

Hey All,

I just joined a pretty special non-profit org, called Emergency Safety Academy (ESA). We visit schools, camps and scout troops and teach CPR / First aid and fire safety. It has grown very fast in my area, and our demand for this coming spring has overwhelmed us. We have the volunteers we need to visit all our events, but we need more stuff.

By stuff I mean, gear. From turnout gear, to backboards, collars, stairchairs, ect. We are looking for new and used, so if you or your department might have a stash of old unused equipment in the attic, or a pile getting ready to go to the trash, please let me know because it may be something we can use.

These items are being used as visual aids for the kids, so they become more familiar with them in the event they are ever faced with an emergency. If you have anything....please let me know.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!!!- Joe

[Chief1C]

Gonna need more info, publicly posted than that. Even old, ready to retire stuff has value. Except turnout gear. We destroy old gear, it serves a purpose, or it doesn't. When it can no longer serve a purpose, its not safe to be used even second hand. Try your local emergency management agency.

General fire safety for the public and children should involve developing a plan of escape, and how to contact emergency services. Not teaching them how to fight the fire.

[MikeEMT]

Don't take this as a bash - my intent is to help you improve your organization.

I have to admit I am not impressed. You are asking for public safety equipment so naturally I did some research into your organization (sorry the suspiciousness has carried over from my cop days). Anyway, what I found was unimpressive to say the least. There is very little information out there to support that you are a legitimate organization.

I was able to locate your facebook page and looked it over. I didn't see any information concerning ownership, company headquarters, licensing, etc. I will admit I didn't look all that hard as I didn't have the time so its possible I missed it.

I applaud educating youth in first aid and fire safety. However most school districts do teach this already. What makes you different? Showing off "advanced" equipment is nice but unnecessary. Additionally, it poses no benefit to someone learning basic first aid or fire safety. A first aider will never use a c-collar nor will the average person need to be familiar with an SCBA.

My suggestion to you is become accredited with the American Heart Association. File your non-profit paperwork with the state and obtain a license (required by law to display the status on all advertising). The NFPA and CDC have fire safety education in place for youth. Contact them and obtain their curriculum. Teach to accepted standards.

My one complaint is the photo on Facebook of the boyscout giving mouth to mouth to the little girl. For starters I understand the photo was staged, but just seems inappropriate to me. Where is the water safety? Why is the "rescuer" not practicing water safety. There is a reason we don't do CPR at pool's edge - one wrong move and were in the water. The photo is contradictory to what I want to teach concerning water safety. My opinion only.

In this post 9/11 society, giving away equipment is typically frowned upon. Additionally, most equipment has a fixed life expectancy and needs to be disposed of. Equipment such as c-collars, backboards, splints, etc. can lead to injury if used incorrectly.

If you are serious about teaching proper first aid and fire safety then you need the proper equipment. PPE, a collection of bandages and basic splints (i.e. SAM or cardboard) and CPR masks are all you need - basically what you would find in a over the counter first aid kit. For fire safety a working fire extinguisher and maybe demo smoke alarms are all that you need. Everything else is overkill.

Again, not intending to bash you or your organization so please don't take it that way.

Good luck.

[Just Plain Ruff]

www.emergencysafetyacademy.org

[MikeEMT]

www.emergencysafetyacademy.org

that did not show up on my google search even though i typed that in. I got a lot of hits for fire and police academies. I figured I would miss a web page or something though.