Each month, Eagle Radio in Great Bend will recognize groups or individuals that make a big impact on our community. This Appreciation Month is highlighting the Great Bend Fire Department.
By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
It didn't take long for Kaleb Karnosky to find his way to the Great Bend Fire Department after studying fire science at Hutchinson Community College. Karnosky finished his studies in Hutchinson on a Friday and started his new job in Great Bend the following Monday. That was three-and-a-half years ago.
Karnosky remembered why he found Great Bend a good place to begin his career.
"There's not an overabundance of fire departments that pay for paramedic school and support their members going to paramedic school," Karnosky said. "It was brought to my attention that Great Bend does do that, so I was pretty dead set on a department that does that. So when they offered me a job, I wasn't going to think twice. I wanted to come here and take advantage of that."
Karnosky grew up in Leavenworth. He said his main interest back then was baseball, not pursuing a career in public safety.
"A lot of the guys here have the 'I want to be a firefighter since I was a kid because my dad or my grandpa was a firefighter.' I don't quite have that," Kornosky commented. "A lot of my friends joined the military. I considered that. But I wanted some kind of public service. So that's when I started looking into fire and EMS."
Karnosky finished his two-year paramedic course last December. He said he learned a lot more than just the medical basics.
"A big part of it is learning to lead, because once you finish paramedic school, when you get on that medical scene, you're oftentimes going to be put in a leadership role, " Karnosky noted. "So they do practice that in school. They want you coming out ready to grab the reins and lead."
In Great Bend, Karnosky has found that his medical training has fit in well with his firefighting skills.
"We cover EMS for the whole city. There's no ambulance service other than us. We do all the EMS. There's a whole spectrum of fire and EMS. You've got some places where they meet in the middle. You have traffic incidents where you utilize your medical, EMS skills as well as fire and rescue type stuff with vehicle extrication or fire suppression. I think it goes very nicely together because there are some incidents where it is very nice to have cross-trained personnel. Some cities don't have that."
Karnosky summarized one of the most important qualities of being a Great Bend firefighter.
"When someone calls 911, they're having a bad day, whether it seems small to you, or it is a real big type incident. You've got to treat them all with respect, and keep in mind that's your job no matter what the problem is. Make sure their day is a little better when you leave."
So what about the dangerous part of the job? Karnosky has an answer for that.
"If you do things correctly, and you do things right, and you look out for each other, it can be done with a certain level of safety. That's what we strive for." Karnosky commented. "The first rule is everybody comes home. You don't ever want to imagine a situation where someone gets hurt or killed doing this type of thing because we're no good to anybody if you end up in the hospital or worse. That's why training is so important."
Even though he is one of Great Bend's youngest firefighters, Karnosky said he plans to make fire and EMS his lifetime career.
Read the previous Appreciation Month stories by clicking HERE.