This Thanksgiving season is a good time to reflect on helping others. Bob Kennedy, a trustee and ex-president of the East Norwich Volunteer Fire Department is in charge of finding people who would like to help serve the community as an emergency responder.

He said, "We would like the public to know that we are now accepting membership for medical-type personnel, only without the need to become a trained firefighter. We hope to get new members because we can see a need coming.

"The increasing number of ambulance calls for medical emergencies are putting a strain on the current membership."

Mr. Kennedy said, "Many people are concerned about the need for firefighter training. Therefore we have changed our by-laws so that people can volunteer only for the medical response training."

The fire department sends recruits for training. They need 140 hours, which is done two nights a week for 10 weeks. There are also day classes that are faster to complete. It used to be a 48-hour course. So you can see that the material is valuable in your regular life - so there is a side benefit to the learning.

Mr. Kennedy said his reason for volunteering with the fire company was because of a desire to help others. If you share that wish, do call the firehouse and leave a message for the chief and someone will get back to you. Call 922-0263.

This week's Blue Light Brigade column is an excellent story about what the emergency team at the firehouse does. They really provide a great service to the community - and you can too.

- DFK