PORTLAND — It wasn’t dragsters rushing down the straightaway late Friday afternoon at Portland Worldwide Raceway. It was Clark County Fireplace District 6 vehicles and SUVs as Vancouver police instructors taught the company’s battalion chiefs strategies for driving rapidly, however safely, to scenes of emergencies.
Battalion Chief Nick McCarty mentioned he felt barely nervous as he rode within the passenger’s seat whereas a police teacher drove at breakneck pace. However as soon as he obtained behind the wheel, he mentioned, he felt his confidence develop.
“It is really good training for us because all of us at the battalion chief level, we are by ourselves in the command vehicles, and so we’re driving, we’re talking on the radio, we’re doing multiple things while we’re responding to the call,” McCarty mentioned. “And a lot of us haven’t gotten to drive a response vehicle for a long time.”
The 4 battalion chiefs for the fireplace district serving Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek and Felida generally see Vancouver cops on the scene of emergencies, however they hardly ever journey in the identical automobile. McCarty famous that previous to turning into battalion chiefs, every have been captains — a job that doesn’t require driving emergency response autos.
“It’s definitely beneficial because we are operating vehicles, going to the same scenes, and having an understanding of how we operate and how they operate is a huge benefit for both agencies,” Vancouver police driving teacher Lt. Ryan Starbuck mentioned.
The police division holds driving trainings twice a 12 months to make sure all officers keep present on their certifications and abilities. The company hosted its coaching final week, Starbuck mentioned, and ended up with further time on the monitor rental late Friday afternoon — time he supplied to fill instructing the Fireplace District 6 battalion chiefs a few of the techniques police are well-versed in.
“It’s one of those things that we really have to be on top of our game,” Starbuck mentioned. “Emergency driving is going to be the highest risk thing that we do. It’s not only a risk to us, but it’s a risk to the public.”
Each Starbuck and McCarty mentioned they hope for extra alternatives to coach collectively sooner or later.
“Cops and firefighters like to tease each other and like to have a good time, and on emergency calls, we do get to interact, and we get to work closely with them regularly, but we don’t always get to train together,” McCarty mentioned. “So it’s nice to see our partners in law enforcement outside of an emergency.”
