�պ�����

Collin Fiske ’20 and Chris Guido ’21 graduated from �պ����� one year apart, but their alma mater is not all they have in common. They are also among several recent �պ����� graduates who work as career firefighters and EMTs for the City of Burlington Fire Department.

Guido (a forestry major) and Fiske (history, with a political science minor) acknowledge they made unlikely career choices given their academic interests, but their profession was very much shaped by their �պ����� experience. They got to know each other as volunteers at �պ����� Rescue, a student club with the serious mission of keeping the campus community safe.

“We prided ourselves on being available 24/7/365” said Fiske, referring to the round-the-clock service �պ����� Rescue provides. “There wasn’t a lot of standing around—our crews were very busy.”

Beyond campus, �պ����� Rescue provides backup service to Burlington, South Burlington, Shelburne, Winooski, Richmond and other communities as part of its mutual aid plan. Emergency calls brought them into contact with many professionals in local fire departments including Lieutenant Michael Jordan of the BFD.

“When I joined the (Burlington) department there might be 100 applicants for every entry-level position available,” said Jordan, a twelve-year veteran of the department. “The pool of applicants has really shrunk in recent years. People who have EMT experience and a passion for helping people, like Collin and Chris, are really valuable to us.”

Fiske didn’t have firefighting on his radar when he arrived at �պ����� from southern Massachusetts. He loved being outdoors—hunting, fishing and skiing are among his interests—and he brought a special fascination of American history and political systems. “I fell in love with Burlington,” he said. “I never thought it would be a permanent home, but it worked out perfectly for me.”

He began volunteering at �պ����� Rescue his freshman year. Like all first-timers he received EMS training and gradually learned the ropes, eventually becoming a crew chief responsible for training new volunteers. It was a big commitment—during a typical semester he estimates he spent 40-50 hours a week at the station while juggling a full-time course load and a part-time job.

He often found his classroom experience bleeding into his rescue work. “You’re learning to analyze information and learn to think critically, whether you major in music or history,” he said. “There were insights from my courses that made my day-to-day interactions more real.”

Fiske notes that fire departments today spend much less time fighting fires—new building codes and early-alert systems have made large structure fires a rarity. But EMT’s are the first responders to all kinds of emergencies. The rise in drug addiction and homelessness brought him in contact with many people in desperate situations. Naturally empathetic—Fiske calls himself a “people person”—he sees himself more as a mediator than an action hero.

“One of the most rewarding parts of my job is being able to connect people to the resources they need and improve their situation, even a little bit.”

Guido, another four-year volunteer at �պ����� Rescue who graduated one year after Fiske, recalls how his training as an EMT affected his classroom experience.

“When we were in class discussing logging and controlled burns, the medical side would come into the picture. I felt I could lend my perspective to those discussions.” He took anatomy and several other medically related courses at �պ����� and built a concentration for his forestry major around emergency medicine.

Guido grew up in Kentucky and northern Illinois, becoming an EMT and a volunteer for an ambulance service during his senior year of high school. He also became a crew chief at �պ����� Rescue and augmented his learning by serving as health officer for the Mount Norris Scout Reservation in Eden, Vermont, for a summer.

“I had a doctor that helped guide me through it and gave me policies and protocols to follow. I was there in person on site to handle any illnesses or injuries and it was nice having a forestry background in that because everything there was pretty environmentally oriented.”

A college graduate himself, Lieutenant Jordan believes more college grads are seeing the value of serving their community while working in an environment that offers quick advancement, training and strong employment benefits.

“There’s a big upside including fire-fighting science, technical training and the physical component –things that might attract college grads. We’re grateful that more and more students coming from a background like �պ����� Rescue are discovering that.”