Clad in dark sun glasses, thick gloves and headphones, Spartanburg firefighters Thursday fumbled through simple tasks in the bunk room of the city’s central fire station.
The equipment impaired the firefighters’ senses as part of a dementia simulation aimed at giving the first responders a sense of what a person with dementia experiences on a daily basis.
The training session also included a presentation from Dori Burgess, program director with the Spartanburg Alzheimer’s Association
With Thursday’s class, every firefighter in Spartanburg has received dementia training, which Philip Starck, Spartanburg Fire’s chief of training, said is vital when firefighters respond to a situation involving a person with dementia.