It was another great day to be at The Pirates House! Judge Tammy Stokes transitioned from Red Badge to Blue Badge - congratulations! Past President Laura Lane reminded all those in attendance about everything RCSE has going on in December. Bill Von Alt gave an update on the GRSP program and how RCSE will be involved this upcoming school year (2024-2025). RCSE is still looking for members to make a financial contribution to help defray the cost of sponsoring a student. Once all Rotary business items were discussed, Kim Campbell introduced our speaker, Chief Joseph Shaw, with the City of Savannah Fire Department.
Chief Shaw began his presentation by talking about the structure and divisions of the fire department. He mentioned special ops, tech rescue, and the medical service division just to name a few. He went into further depth about the Savannah Fire EMS Response unit which provides basic life support services. They typically respond to about 2-3 opioid overdoses per day and around 2-3 cardiac arrests per week. Another thing that the fire department does is give safety talks at schools and community centers. One safety tip Chief Shaw gave to us was to have a six foot ring around your water heater! The City of Savannah Fire Department is a Class One fire department. Only 1% of fire departments in the nation that have this distinction. Our inquisitive group had a lot of questions for Chief Shaw, which he answered with insightful detail.