Emergency Services Career Day

Today, the Boys & Girls Club of SW Washington visited CRESA for a "career day" visit which was coordinated by the City of Vancouver.

In less than 2 hours, they received information on 4 different types of careers which included:

• Being a City Council Member
• Working as a 9-1-1 Dispatcher
• Investigating fires as a Deputy Fire Marshal
• Life as an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Manager

The kids all listened attentively and asked a number of key questions about how to obtain these types of jobs, the skills and education needed to work in emergency services and about the best and worst aspects of our jobs. 

Some key lessons highlighted included:

• Follow your passion.  Don't just do a job because you have to, do it because you want to.  Having a passion for what you do will bring much more fulfillment than the money.
• Be flexible.  You never know what you will encounter in the world of emergency services.  Employees have to be able to adapt and cope to whatever might be coming next. 
• Start volunteering early.  Even if you don't volunteer directly in emergency services, the experiences of working with others collaboratively will provide great skills that are very applicable in emergency services. 

Here in Clark County, there are some wonderful volunteer opportunities for youth which include:

• SW Washington Chapter of the American Red Cross
• Trauma Intervention Program
• Boys & Girls Club of SW Washington

It is always fun to connect with the community and inspire the next generation of kids.  We hope that we planted some seed today that will blossom into the future.