How has the Pandemic Affected First Responders?

The pandemic has interrupted so many things that all of us used to take for granted. The list of things impacted by COVID-19 seems to grow by the minute. One of those many millions of things is the ability to attend in-person training sessions.

Nearly every organization has felt its impact, whether it has meant postponing trainings altogether or looking for new ways to conduct them, not keeping everyone up-to-date with essential trainings and refreshers impacts every organization.

Fire companies and hazmat teams are no exception. Long before the pandemic, first response agencies struggled to find new personnel to replace veterans who were retiring. Volunteer fire companies and emergency medical services had witnessed their numbers spiraling downward for more than a decade. The pandemic has further compounded both paid and volunteer companies’ efforts to find and maintain adequate staff levels to cover the response needs in their communities.

Even for those rare few companies that have maintained adequate numbers of staff or volunteers, economic turmoil and budget cuts have impacted everyone’s ability to stock consumable supplies and pay for training sessions. This forces many response organizations to have to make some really tough decisions.

We know how important it is to have the right tools and training to efficiently and safely get the job done. That’s why we’re offering free spill response training to fire departments and hazmat teams. Training can be completed whenever and wherever it’s convenient for each responder.

This helps everyone to be better prepared and ready to respond. We never know what nature will throw at us, but being prepared helps us keep our communities safe and prevent environmental harm.