CHARLESTON, W.Va. — First responders from across West Virginia will be in Charleston this week to be part of the 9th annual West Virginia Public Safety Expo. The annual event at the Charleston Civic Center will bring a number of law enforcement, ems, and fire fighters together to cross train in a number of areas.
“We bring a lot of folks together to pick up some of the classes they can’t get anywhere else,” said Kanawha County Emergency Services Director Dale Petry who chairs the organizing committee for the event.
Classes are taught by nationally known speakers and allow for certification or re-certification in a first responders area of work.
“We try to reach out and we’ve got nationally known speakers from throughout the United States,” said Petry. “We had 11 different states represented, but I’m not sure how many states we’ll have represented this year but I understand from pre-registration there’s already more than 500 people coming.”
The classes typically address the latest in issues facing first responders or the latest research on tactics and skills to operate safer and more efficiently in the field.
“Things like body camera classes, techniques of interrogation, and disasters for dispatchers,” said Petry in looking over the offerings during the seminars.
The event also becomes a trade show for a lot of safety equipment vendors. Several fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles will be part of the event. Companies which make and sell various safety tools will also be set up to show off their latest gear and will have it available for sale to area departments.
The law enforcement classes are restricted, but Petry said there is some limited allowance for the public to participate in the event, especially the trade show with access for a couple of hours each day. The event started at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and runs through Saturday.
The biggest asset, in Petry’s mind, is the networking opportunities of the expo.
“This is a great way for us all to put names with faces,” he said. “We put police officers, firefighters, and EMT’s together. Some of them cross train together so when you meet one of them on scene of a fire, active shooter, or a car wreck or something, you can put a face with a name. Then they know who you are and how they can trust you.”