The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Firefighter camp for girls aims to beat labels
When the girls, ages 11 to 16, complete the camp, they will be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
HARTFORD >> The firefighter camp girls were working in small groups on CPR manikins, trying to keep the “green light of life” on through chest compressions, when a cry rang out.
“You killed Julio!” Alexus Miller, 16, of Hartford, shouted. Her group’s “green light of life” had turned red.
Everyone laughed — but kept on pressing.
It was a light moment in a day filled with them during the inaugural class of Hartford’s new Girls Future Firefighter Camp, run by the Hartford Fire Department and The Village for Family and Children’s Community Life Skills for Girls program. Eight girls are in the class, though one was absent Friday.
The camp was the idea of Hartford Fire Lt. Shelly Carter and was put in motion by Leslie McCarter, director of the life skills program at The Village.
When the girls, ages 11 to 16, complete the camp, they will be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and in the use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED. They will also learn what a typical day in the life of a Hartford firefighter looks like.
“The goal is to just open their minds,” Carter said. “To have something that will open their minds to think outside of the box of the ‘girl jobs.”’
Another goal is to get the campers interested in careers in public safety, whether it be firefighting, policing or some other form of emergency responder.
“What they learn from us they are going to take back to their community and go, ‘Guess what I know,”’ Carter said. “If they see a student at their school choking, they will be able to do the Heimlich maneuver. It’s not just putting fires out. It’s way bigger than that.”
Hartford Fire Chief Reginald Freeman was at the opening ceremony and gave the girls advice about breaking through stereotypes society might try to impose on them.
“We always hear people tell us what we should do and what we shouldn’t do,” he said. “I’m here to tell you as the chief of the department that if you want to become a firefighter, then just do what you want to do.”
Of Hartford’s 251 firefighters, 15 are women, Freeman said. He thanked Carter for giving the girls a chance to get a glimpse of life as a firefighter.
As part of Friday’s class, which began at 9 a.m. and went into the early afternoon, the girls were separated into an engine crew and a ladder crew. The campers chose their positions and were taught how to march.
Miller and the other six girls — or CLS Squad, as they call themselves — popped jokes throughout the day, but stayed focused when needed.
“Dude, I’m saving a life,” one camper said during CPR while another tried to distract her with “The Running Man” dance.
Miller said the class was empowering.
Clara Harwood, 11, said it drives home the point that girls can break society’s expectations: “All of us are having a lot of fun and even if some of us want to quit, at the same time it’s like, ‘No, don’t quit,’ because then we’re just showing society that we can’t do it but we really can.”