The Emergency Responders club is a new group on campus. It was started by Air Force JROTC Chief Benito Salinas and Student Resource Officers Michael Anderson and Charles Chaple. Meetings will be on the first of every month, with the first one on Sept. 1. 

“My life’s been about service. Whether as a military member, whether it’s as a social worker, whether it’s as a teacher, and I figured this was a good opportunity for people to learn about other career fields that provide service,” Salinas said. 

Meetings will feature guest speakers from local law enforcement and emergency response agencies. Members will learn about the guest speaker’s experiences in being first responders through both speeches and hands-on training. They will also learn about eligibility requirements to go into the field of first responders.

“This is an opportunity for students to learn more about potential careers as first responders, whether that’s with law enforcement, fire, FBI, CIA, FEMA, those kinds of things,” Salinas said.

Along with serving as an opportunity to learn about careers as a first responder, the club has no age, grade or GPA requirement.

“Everybody is welcome,” Salinas said. “Our target audience is individuals who might be interested in careers or learning more about careers as a first responder, whether that’s law enforcement, fire, paramedic or anything else. So it’s just an opportunity to learn.”

During the first meeting on Sep. 1, the SROs spoke, along with representatives from the Flower Mound priority response unit. The Narcotics detection dog was also brought in. They brought images and stories from their careers, most notably about the largest drug-related arrest in the area. Club member and junior Zachary Harley said that their visit was informational. 

“The dog was nice to see at the meeting, and I learned that there are a lot of drugs in Flower Mound,” Harley said.

The program will also offer CERT training later this year, along with many more informative presentations from guest speakers. Anyone interested can join by going to room A102 on the designated meeting dates.