CCFES believes that success in the profession begins with proper training. Fire recruit school is a total of 14 weeks and Advanced EMT school is a total of 20 weeks. During fire recruit school, recruits will report to the Cherokee County Fire Training Complex in Holly Springs where training is held. Over the course of 14 weeks, recruits will be trained in NPQ FF 2, Hazmat Ops, vehicle extrication, VEIS, flammable liquids fire control, pressurized container fire control, victim rescue, ladders, search and rescue, hose advancement, and more. The CCFES training staff works hard to uphold the highest standard in fire training to ensure recruits are well prepared when they graduate and begin working in the field.
It is imperative that recruits show and maintain the willingness to learn and improve throughout the schooling process. Fire recruit school is a challenging process and is designed to make recruits more capable. Recruits will need to learn to work hard as an individual as well as work well in a team to advance in recruit school.
CCFES is proud to announce a partnership with Lanier Technical College that allows recruits to earn college credit during the recruit training process.
Emergency medical services makes up the vast majority of the fire department response call volume. Therefore, members of the department must be adequately trained to handle any and all medical emergencies that our citizens may need us to respond to. Our Advanced EMT school is 20 weeks long and trains recruits from zero experience to Advanced EMT in that timeframe. This process is challenging and requires hard work and dedication to ensure the best service is provided to our citizens. Recruits will complete EMT Basic before moving on to Advanced EMT. From there, recruits will then take the National Registry exam to become eligible to graduate from Advanced EMT school and provide emergency medical care to the citizens of Cherokee County.
Once in the field, personnel can choose to go to Paramedic school through the fire department training division to further their emergency medical care. Our Paramedic program is free of charge to the employee and is taught on a shift-friendly schedule. With completion of Paramedic School, comes an increase in salary equivalent to approximately 10%.