Waubonsee Community College has honored the Oswego Fire Protection District as their 2016 Distinguished Contributor.
Dr. Michelle Evans, Assistant Dean for Health Professions and Public Service, said the Oswego Fire Protection District has worked closely with the college in recent years to provide opportunities to maximize skill development opportunities and student networking opportunities.
Those efforts have included participation in advisory committees, allowing paramedics to participate as preceptors for the paramedic program, donating hay and pallets for live fire training, and donating use of equipment and parking. In addition, firefighters have participated in college events including the Fox Valley Fire Challenge, assisted in managing equipment and helped staff prepare training sites.
In 2014, the fire district donated a 1998 International Road Ranger ambulance. That vehicle provides students with opportunities to learn and practice valuable patient care skills while participating in practice scenarios. Evans said that the relationship between Waubonsee and the district demonstrates how a community employer can have an impact on programs at multiple levels.
“We have been very proud to collaborate with the Oswego Fire Protection District in building and sustaining our Fire Science Technology and Paramedic programs,” Evans said. “The growth of these programs over the last two years would not have been as significant without their contributions.”
Evans credits the leadership of Chief Mike Veseling and the Oswego Fire Protection District Board of Trustees for supporting the collaboration between his district and the college.
“We were more than eager to help foster this relationship and the direction which Waubonsee was moving,” Veseling said “We were very excited to see the energy being placed into the Fire Science / EMS programs. The Oswego Fire Protection District believes that good academic, technical, and experiential education is critical to our mission, and vital to the safety of the general public as well as the safety of our own members.”
Veseling said many of his colleagues are former Waubonsee students, and some district employees are currently pursuing degree work through the college.
“We believe that the current and future firefighters will need all the knowledge, experience and training they can get if they are to meet the challenges facing them today and in the years to come,” he said. “Waubonsee using our facilities is the perfect fit in helping to deliver this type and level of training.”
