VIDEO: Parkside High School’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program recently announced that they will be offering firefighter and EMT training for the 2024-2025 school year, through partnerships with organizations like Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute and the Salisbury Fire department. It’s a program that previously existed for many years, but a lack of interest from the community forced the county to stop offering it. The revival comes at a time when fire departments across the nation are in desperate need of help.
“When I got hired back in 2008, I tested against 60 or 70 other people. We now typically run a test and we have five or six. And of those five or six, one or two may be qualified,” said Captain Donald Messick of the Salisbury Fire Department.