“Preparing today, for the challenges of tomorrow to cultivate the young men and women of Miami-Dade County in a career in the fire service by exposing these future leaders to an environment of medical, technical, and fire suppression training. Always ready, proud to serve!”

For Miami-Dade County’s Fire Rescue Cadet Program member and sophomore Samuel Althius, the mission statement above constantly circulates through his mind, reminding him of his commitment to the program and serving his community.

Originally established in 1979 in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America, the training program aims to expose high schoolers to the firefighting profession by teaching participants various skills necessary to become a firefighters. For Althius, being a Cadet is the best gateway to pursuing this path in the long run, as Cadets are often recruited by Miami-Dade County Fire Service following their time in the program. To join the Cadet Program, participants must complete a four-to-six-week training program over the summer. This allows students to become Emergency Medical Response and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation certified, offering them a glimpse into firefighters’ work.

“I decided to join because I really want to be a firefighter in my future, and this is the best way to do that,” Althius said.“You basically learn to be a firefighter … And, every other Friday we do classes. For example, last class we [learned about] search and rescue.” 

At these meetings, Cadets are assembled into groups A or B, and then into subsections, or squads. Here, they collaborate with their group members and learn various skills that a firefighter would use. In addition to this, the Cadets are also expected to attend “ride times” at least once a month. This feature is in direct collaboration with MDC’s firefighters, giving these students a glimpse into a firefighter’s daily routine.

“You are either on the engine rescue or the ladder truck and all day you are stationed there, and you run any emergency calls with them on the truck and stay at the station, cook meals with them, and basically are a firefighter during those 10 hours to a certain extent,” Cadet member and sophomore Tristan Gettinger said.

Since ride times put them on shift with firefighters, the Cadets can gain real-life experience responding to various situations.

“If it’s a fire, [cadets] maintain their presence at the truck with the driver; they never go into a fire. What their job is, at that point, is to assist the firefighters coming out of the fire, whether it’s to go ahead and give them refreshments or electrolytes or anything to get their boost back up… If they get off the highway they have safety vests with reflective tape all over it, so they can be seen. They actually go and help the firefighters in a safe manner to assist anybody who needs first aid and they take them to the truck and wait for the rescue to arrive, for them to go out and transport,” Cadet Program Manager Vanessa Siatwoski said. “Then, the other ones are basic house calls. If 911 gets a call, ‘I’m not feeling well, this is my address,’ they record the vitals [of the patient] with the captain or the lieutenant of the truck. And, that’s what they do all day on the truck.”

For the Cadets, these experiences become more than an extracurricular activity to gain volunteer hours. Instead, it teaches them to value the efforts of the fire service and its importance to the everyday lives of citizens. 

“I’ve learned a ton. It’s very rewarding to be able to understand how the human body works in general a little better. It’s also very rewarding to help people, going on those ride times. It’s a great feeling to just have saved someone’s life, [when I do] CPR on someone, although it was extremely nerve-wracking the first time … It was an amazing experience to be like, ‘I saved someone’s life,’” Cadet member and sophomore James Gorman said.

Besides this, the program helps continue a lasting love for the service in some families.

“My favorite thing about the program would probably be [that] since my dad is also a firefighter, I get to ride with him [during ride times],” Gettinger said.