Knowledge is power and EFFORT is a fun, informative day hosted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office to help people with intellectual disabilities practice how to extinguish fires, bandage a wound effectively, and contact 911.
The event, hosted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, will be held from10 a.m.–1 p.m. on Saturday, July 14, at the Christiansburg Recreation Center (1600 N Franklin St. Christiansburg).
An accident can be scary enough, but if you’re not familiar with first responders and equipment, noisy fire trucks and sirens—even uniforms—can make a scary situation worse.
EFFORT stands for “Enabling Friends For Our Response Teams” helping adults and children, everybody, with intellectual disabilities meet emergency response teams and learn new skills, while response teams meet people with intellectual disabilities.
“We learn a lot about the people in our community and they learn about the things that we bring on scene. They see us in uniform and learn about our jobs – lights, sirens, maybe a fire engine,” Captain Kim Haug of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office said. “We don’t want to make things worse, we want to make things better.”
“The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Fire & Rescue Departments of Montgomery County have joined forces to develop a program focusing on our community of individuals with disabilities,” Sheila Roop, executive director of the Intellectual Disabilities Agency of the NRV said in a release.
Both said, it’s not only informative, it’s fun with obstacle courses adapted for all abilities, leaning the proper method for contacting 911, bandage wounds, and how to put out a fire safely.
“In order to best meet the individual needs of your loved one, you will be asked a series of questions to best prepare those that will be assisting with this event,” the announcement said.
“It’s really neat,” Haug said. “There’s and obstacle course and medals, Photo with a Cop, and we get to use a water hose!”
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s office has invited Giles, Floyd and Pulaski Counties too.
For more information please call: Kim Haug at 540-357-2302 or
Potsie Smith: 540-357-2316
“Your EFFORT to make our EFFORT a success is appreciated!” the announcement said.