Each October, Fire Safety Week brings so much to share with our students next door at Andover Elementary/Middle School. This year we were lucky enough to teach something to each of the nine grades at AE/MS.

We taught the younger children about smoke detectors, emergency planning in the event of a fire, as well as fire and first aid safety. They got to step into the ambulance and talk about what EMTs do, plus more lessons of “when to call 911” as well as “what you can do to help in the event of a medical emergency.”

A homework assignment was given to those who didn’t know their address. Knowing your address is important if you are the only one who can talk to the 911 dispatcher. Kindergarten and first and second graders got to see what a fireman looks like “on air.”

The older students get a little more hands-on with some real-life situations. The seventh graders were role playing a forestry situation and learned how to cut a fire line into the wooded area out behind the fire station.

The eighth grade finished up our day. AE/MS teacher Ryan Murphy played the role of an accident victim trapped in a vehicle. Student crews worked with Fireman Carter Atwood and Fireman Jeff Miller to extricate him while another learned about patient care from EMT John Kinney. Both groups worked together to remove Mr. Murphy from the vehicle safely.