Braggin' On Him

About that whole volunteer fire & rescue thing...

The last year and a half or so has been quite a journey for Cliff, starting with his stint with the Franklin Citizens' Fire Academy, spring of 2010. July of last year, after having had his application in the system for a season, he was voted onto the Williamson County Rescue Squad - which serves as our county's sole force of fire and rescue (including medical, personal injury accidents, vehicle extrication, swift water rescue) service for county citizens living outside of a city's jurisdiction (which includes us, because we do not technically live within the City of Franklin, though we're merely a quarter-mile from it.) 

That means these men and women - volunteers - are trained to do everything a city's paid fire servicemen (and women) do, because a fire is a fire is a fire - though not spending nearly as much time in service, as they typically only respond to calls outside the timeframe of their "day-jobs".

Since last August, Cliff has completed a number of trainings - much like a course one would take over an entire semester. It's certainly put a damper on our weeknights being free, but I wouldn't trade any of that for the sense of purpose and duty it's driven him to feel and for the pride I get to feel watching him do something like this with his time. The two main certifications needed to be able to respond to every form and facet of call is the Fire Fighter I and Emergency Medical Responder certifications (the latter being formerly known as a First Responder). 

Cliff completed Fire Fighter I last Fall and we found out just this weekend, after a nail-biting week, that Cliff passed his EMR exam and now has only to complete his ambulance ride-alongs (hopefully before Virginia's arrival!) to be done and fully certified.

I don't know how he does it, but he does it all so well. I'm proud of you, babe.