Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service have delivered their first pilot Transition Year Course Programme at the Hacketstown Training & Development Centre from March 31st to April 4th, 2025. The 5 day course gave Transition Year students an opportunity to experience the training and role of a firefighter, in addition to a certified Manual Handling Course and an Irish Heart Foundation CPR Course.
The students completed a wide range of firefighter training including:
- Foot Drill, Marching and being on a Parade as a team
- Fire Hoses, branches and hydrant equipment
- Pump operations
- Knots & Lines
- Introduction to Breathing Apparatus and Confined Spaces
- Fire Extinguisher
- Foam firefighting
- Water Rescue & Throw bags
- Fire Appliance familiarisation
- RTC equipment and procedures
- Limits of flammability
- Teamwork competitions
The course also received a visit from the HSE National Ambulance Service including a tour around an Ambulance and the medical lifesaving equipment carried on the vehicle with an opportunity to talk to paramedics about a career in the Ambulance Service. The Carlow Roads Policing Unit also visited the course and talked about their role at RTC’s and Road Safety measures they use such as speed checks, roadside breathalysers and drugs tests. The Gardai also gave an insight into a career as a Garda. Students also got to wear VR goggles and experience being involved in an RTC virtually, a valuable lesson about road hazards, distraction and causes of RTCs before starting the learn to drive. They also received a tour of Carlow County Fire & Rescue Services Incident Command Unit and got to observe operational firefighter carrying out refresher Breathing Apparatus and Compartment Fire Behaviour Training on courses being ran alongside the TY Course at the Hacketstown Training & Development Centre.
A/Chief Fire Officer of Carlow County Fire & Rescue Servcie, Ben Woodhouse ‘I am delighted to deliver our first pilot course for TY students and give an opportunity for them to experience and learn about the role of a Firefighter. Our Firefighters do an excellent job serving and protecting communities in County Carlow including making a difference to someone’s life in their time of most need using specialist skills, training, fleet and equipment. The TY Course has brought 12 teenagers together, who have no fire service experience and most of whom were strangers to each other, yet over the 5-days they gelled together and operated as a team completing various fire service tasks. Hopefully they bring this experience and newly acquired skills forward with them in whichever career direction they take which may include a future role in the Fire Service. I’m immensely proud of what they have achieved this week and wish them well for the future. I also wish to thank the TY trainers from the four Carlow County Fire Stations; SO Darrell Hayden, SSO Eddie O’Hara, SSO Danial Fitzpatrick, DM Frankie Whelan, FF Ronan Boyle and FF Teegan Joyce'