Chester County resumes in-person, first responder training
COATESVILLE » The Chester County Department of Emergency Services has resumed in-person training for first responders, with escalated precautions,at the Public Safety Training Campus in Coatesville.
“Having a comprehensive reopening plan allows us to restore public safety training as soon as possible while maintaining an aggressive prevention and preparedness posture to ensure the health and safety of our Chester County responders, instructors and staff,” stated Emergency Services Director Mike Murphy.
The Public Safety Training Campus reopened Sunday to complete the Fire I Certification Class, which started prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the same time frame, a Basic Vehicle Rescue class was held. The next class is a Fire II Certification Class, which will begin when conditions allow.
“It is imperative that we be able to offer training and certification sessions that enable our responders to remain compliant with the various regulatory bodies. All the while assuring that the sessions are provided in the safest possible environment,” said J. Patrick Davis, Director
of Training and Development.
CCDES staff instructors, evaluators and students are required to undergo health screening and temperature checks before entering any building on the Training Campus. Anyone with a fever or other symptoms will not be permitted to attend training until released by their physician.
Masks are required and social distancing is strictly enforced at all times during training, with classrooms set up to maintain social distancing. Students are divided into smaller groups, and are not permitted to cross over to another group during training.
Hand sanitizer is located throughout the Training Campus and classrooms and bathrooms are disinfected before and after each training session.