Jose 'JJ' Balderas
The city of Springtown, in collaboration with the Springtown Independent School District, held its inaugural First Responder Camp last week, giving local teenagers a hands-on look at careers that protect and serve the community.
The free camp, held July 13-18 for youth ages 13 to 18, brought together local and regional agencies to introduce participants to law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, dispatch, emergency management and other public safety fields.
Participants also practiced teamwork, leadership and civic responsibility while learning practical lifesaving skills they can use in real life.
Dylan McFarland, an emergency management specialist with Parker County, said the camp was created to give young people a place to explore several career paths within first response.
“It’s being able to provide a learning environment for careers in first response, whether that’s police, fire, EMS, dispatch or emergency management,” McFarland said. “We want to make sure they also see other avenues they might like to pursue, especially if they want to do field response-type work or just help others in that first response capacity.”
McFarland said most participants entered the camp with no prior experience learning about first response.
“It’s the first time through for all these kids, so it’s a great new opportunity for them and really encourages them to see what all they can make happen and do,” he said.
For incoming Springtown High School sophomore Paola Balado, the camp offered a chance to see careers she had not previously considered.
Balado, who is currently studying to be an athletic trainer at the high school, said she had always been interested in helping others but was surprised by what she learned during the week.
“My mom signed me up for this,” she said. “I’m seeing a lot of things that I’ve never seen before.”
Though Balado intends to study kinesiology to continue moving forward in a career in athletic training, she said the camp introduced her to other possible opportunities.
“Now that I’ve seen EMS and how they work, I feel like that might have switched my mind on some things,” Balado said. “Like seeing the dispatcher, how she was on call and she made us write down everything. It was just something that I’ve never expected, and it’s really interesting.”
With school beginning soon, Balado said she also valued gaining knowledge she could carry into the classroom.
“Because school’s about to start, I could use this information for school. I really liked it,” she said.
