With a goal of inspiring young people to consider a career or volunteer position in public emergency services, Cadet Camp was held in June. Lancaster County first responder agencies collaborated to provide hands-on learning and fun for children ages 8 to 14. Run by the Lafayette Fire Company, camps were held on June 23 at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center in Manheim and on June 24 at Lafayette Fire Company in Lancaster.

"My goal was to highlight some different aspects of the emergency service world, to maybe inspire some interest in the cadets to go into the field of emergency services," explained Kim Herskowitz, camp coordinator. "I wanted to showcase some of the different jobs or positions that are available and show that many different talents and interests can be beneficial to the big picture."

She noted that the camp highlighted the various ways people can serve their community. "Some kids may want to be front-line, hands-on firefighters," she said. "Some may prefer the EMS end of things or law enforcement. Some may have more of an interest in the math and science end of things and want to be a part of the Hazmat team. Some may want to be in leadership and are great at critical thinking in high-stress situations."

Herskowitz noted that the campers had to rely on each other as a team to complete challenges at five stations. "The cadets learned how to work as a team to navigate a heavy hose line up some stairs and through a building," she stated. "They learned about truck work and ventilation as they watched a crew perform a cut on the roof prop. They watched a crew demonstrate forcible entry tools to gain access to a building and got to practice using some of the tools on locks and doors."

Campers also learned about search techniques by navigating their way through a dark, smoke-filled maze and heard about careers in law enforcement from the East Lampeter Township Police and Pennsylvania State Police.

Teams also competed against each other to earn points, focusing on skills of communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, Herskowitz noted. Campers worked together to earn puzzle pieces, and once the puzzle was completed, each camper received a ticket to a baseball game, courtesy of the Lancaster Barnstormers.

To conclude the camp, cadets and their parents watched as Life Lion landed its medical helicopter at the station and the crew gave a presentation about the features of the helicopter and their careers as flight medics.

The camp was sponsored by First Responders Children's Foundation and the Lancaster STEM Alliance. "The goal was to highlight all of the different ways that the kids could use their talents to help other people," Herskowitz said. "They got a good overview of some of the skills and talents that are needed in volunteer or career positions with emergency services. Our hope would be that this inspires some of these kids to use the talents that they have to help their communities."