New Lakeland ETC dean: retirement gaps, new hazards are reshaping firefighting

“Every province and even every state is still dealing with the same amount of attrition. A lot of the firefighters that have been out there are aging out, retiring out. We have gaps to fill, and that’s across the board.”

Rose said Lakeland’s main emergency training programs put about 96 new firefighters into the field in a year, while firefighters already working with municipal, rural and industrial departments also return to the centre to refresh and retrain their skills. The centre also offers a three-year online degree program whose students are generally already working in the industry.

Rose officially became dean July 30 after previously serving as the centre’s section chief of business development and logistics. Lakeland announced his appointment Aug. 17.

The college says Rose joined Lakeland in 2023 and brings more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning emergency services, emergency management, fire protection, project management and business operations.

Rose said technology is one of the biggest changes he has seen in emergency services, making it important for students to learn both fundamental skills and newer systems they could encounter on the job.

“And that’s one advantage we do here is we teach everything from very, very basic of what do you do without technology to state-of-the-art and new technology that they’ll actually encounter wherever they end up.”

Much of that preparation happens outside a traditional classroom.

The Emergency Training Centre has its own fleet of fire apparatus, and students train in municipal and wildland firefighting, hazardous materials response, vehicle extrication and rope rescue. Rose said ambulances are also used for medical training involving simulated trauma and emergency situations, while students respond to staged fire calls designed to give them a sense of what an actual response could involve.

Some students have also been exposed to real emergency deployments.

Rose said the centre has deployed to the Redwater Fire Complex in Sturgeon County, the Jasper wildfires and Parkland County over the past three years. He said students can be taken along for short periods to support communities and experience what a real-world deployment looks like. When the centre is not called out, it runs practical scenarios on site and in the surrounding area.

The hands-on approach is ultimately about preparing students to protect both themselves and the people they will serve.

“They need that education, they need that certification, they need to be on top of new strategies and enhancements,” he said.

As departments look to replace retiring members, Rose said the range of people considering firefighting is also broadening.

He said the centre is seeing more female candidates and wants more people to consider emergency services as a possible career.

“Which is fantastic because they’re understanding that they can do this,” Rose said. “We’d love to see it open up to a bigger, broader population and say, you can do this.”

Rose said younger people are also finding their way into emergency services after first pursuing other post-secondary paths and deciding those careers were not right for them. Because the training centre is part of Lakeland College, students can earn post-secondary credits and have opportunities to transfer into other programs.

But Rose said becoming a firefighter involves more than mastering equipment or learning how to respond to an emergency.

He described the profession as one that requires hard work, high standards, selflessness and humility – qualities he wants students to carry with them after they leave Lakeland.

Ultimately, the reason behind all that training becomes clearest after the emergency is over.

“That thank you at the end of that is the most rewarding thing we can get,” he said.

“It’s not the paycheck. It’s not any of that stuff. It’s the thank you. It’s a genuine thank you for being there at a time when we’re needed.”

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kenneth.cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

New Lakeland ETC dean: retirement gaps, new hazards are reshaping firefighting

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