Where kids learn to survive
Where kids learn to survive| CAPTION: Kayla Gahagan/Daily Mining Gazette Dylan Boberg, 8, above, looks up to his father, Pat as he describes how to change the batteries in a smoke detector during the two-day Camp 911. |
By KAYLA GAHAGAN, DMG Writer
HANCOCK — The second floor filled with thick smoke and the deafening blare of a smoke detector prompted 11-year-old Brock Erickson to feel his way to the nearest window and crawl out head first.
Observers on the ground watched as he emerged — safe, unscathed, and most importantly wearing a wide grin and his bright orange “Camp 911” t-shirt.
The “burning building” — complete with fogged vegetable oil — was a simulated experience created during the 8th annual kids camp held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Mercy Ambulance, which drew 64 fifth and sixth graders and a waiting list of 20 this year.
“There are three purposes,” said Anne Clancy, who spent the two days energetically weaving in and out of the kids with questions and activities before leading them off to their next adventures.
“It gets kids interested in EMS and volunteering,” she said. “They learn how to be first on the scene, kids can have just as big an impact as adults. And we are trying to reduce the risk of high-risk behaviors.”
The agenda included wilderness survival, helmet safety, CPR, extrication, law enforcement vehicle tours, career talks from local EMS personnel and a first-hand account from Tom Savola, who shared his story of a car accident two years ago in which he was not wearing a seat belt.
“It’s the least I can do to try to prevent it from happening to somebody else,” he said.
Volunteers like Savola, and another 50 who gave their time or money, are what makes the camp so attractive and well-run, said Clancy, who works in the Marquette General Hospital ICU and refused to designate herself the coordinator.
“There are an incredible number of people involved,” she said. “No one person could stand alone.”
The camp draws on a number of different agencies including the Salvation Army, Red Cross, Mercy Ambulance, Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center, Portage Health, Coast Guard, AmeriCorps, UPPCO as well as local law enforcement, volunteer firefighters and paramedics and paramedic students.
“It’s a better way for young people to look at EMS and fire personnel other than in an emergency situation,” said Mercy Ambulance General Manager Gerald Primeau.
The camp was started in Marquette in response to a decreasing number of EMS personnel and was held for the first time locally in 1999 with 20 kids.
“It’s just grown,” Clancy said, adding that someday they hope it grows to an overnight camp.
One of the goals, encouraging volunteerism and careers in medical emergency agencies, seems to have gotten to 13-year-old Desirae Hallstrom who came last year as a camper and this year as a junior counselor.
“I want to be an EMT,” she said in between activities Wednesday.
For Clancy, who admits she can’t hide her excitement for the camp, it was very good news.
“We all aren’t here because we don’t want to be home ... we’re all passionate (about it),” she said.
Kayla Gahagan can be reached at kgahagan@mininggazette.com
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