The 2022 Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services recruitment class. (Photo: City of Lethbridge)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge Fire and EMS celebrates graduation of 2022 recruitment class

Jul 5, 2022 | 12:31 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB –Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services celebrated its latest recruitment class with a graduation ceremony Tuesday morning, July 5, 2022.

12 firefighter-paramedics have been added to the local service’s ranks. Deputy Chief Gerrit Sinke said the recruits have “walked a long journey” to get to this point.

“First of all, they became advanced care firefighter-paramedics and that is quite a journey, generally three to five years of schooling alone,” Sinke said, outside of the north Lethbridge training centre following the graduation ceremony.

“Then to go through these 10 weeks of recruit training here with our service is a very heavy workload for them and I can only imagine that they are extremely excited.”

Sinke added that Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services operates with about 178 members. He added that the service will be receiving eight additional members, on top of the recent graduating class.

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“During our training program, we’ve worked really hard to prepare them for what they’re about to face,” Sinke said, adding that city firefighters are also trained as paramedics.

He commented that the caliber of this recruit class “is second to none”. Sinke said, “I have stayed very close to them over the last 10 weeks and I have seen nothing but highly engaged professional men trying their very best to be the best at their craft, which is fire and EMS.”

Rob Cloherty is one of the 12 recruits and said he is excited to start in his new position. Cloherty said, “The last 10 weeks have been awesome for training.”

He noted that the training period included classroom work, as well as hands-on physical work.

Cloherty said, “It’s been interesting to see how everybody’s evolved from having some fire experience, no fire experience and we all kind of came together as this cohesive group that, you know, learned these skills and perfected them and kept each other accountable.”

“It’s been pretty incredible to see how everyone’s fit into their role.”

Graduate Rob Cloherty outside the north Lethbridge training centre following the graduation ceremony on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

Cloherty came into the training 10 weeks ago with a background in EMS. He said, “I had no fire experience, so I was coming in [as] a blank slate.”

“That was actually excellent because I had no bad habits. I learned the right way the first time and I got that imprinted in my head, all the do’s and don’ts and that was pretty beneficial for me coming into it.”

Cloherty said being selected to train with the service and now, gearing up to start in his role, is like winning the lottery.

“It’s something we’ve worked really hard for and all of us recruits… [there has] been blood, sweat and tears to make sure we got to where we needed to be.”

More on Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services, including how to become involved with the service, is available at the City of Lethbridge website.

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