West Lafayette firefighters take cultural training

West Lafayette firefighters take cultural training

Lafayette firefighters are undergoing racial training.

This comes after a number of local and national protests fighting for racial- equality.

News 18's micah upshaw shows us how it's helping bring new perspectives.

S: i think it was different then what most people expected, we were expecting it to be 'pick on the white people' or something but it was very open conversation.

M: creating open conversation is what the training is all about.

Instead of following a textbook touching on topics of race, the firefighters got a chance to just ask questions and listen while in a safe space.

J: the training itself generally makes the emergency responders aware, and awareness is 90% of the solution.

M: mayor john dennis says this training is one way the city is working to address issues of race amid the recent protests and demonstrations.

West lafayette city clerk sana booker is leading the cultural training.

The police department has undergone the training for years but this is the first time the fire department is doing it.

T: we train daily on our medical, we train on our fire and we do that to create a muscle memory on how we response.

Cultural training, i want our guys to get into our mental memory, the training on how we understand cultures.

H: it's definitely going to be a great benefit to my brothers here at the fire department.

M: out of all 48 of the west lafayette firefighters, hector (z- air-uh-go-zuh) zaragoza is the only one of another ethnicity.

As a hispanic- american he sees this training as an eye- opener for those who may see racial- difference differently.

H: maybe see things they didn't see before.

Different approaches, you know, just be aware of the differences out there.

M: fire chief tim heath says this training will become a yearly requirement.

Reporting in west lafayette, micah upshaw.

News 18.

Today was the last training.

There were three shifts to accommodate all the fiefighters.

The department will hold one make-up session for any firefighters who missed the other trainings.