Jim Read,Training officer, Kaua‘i Fire Department By Paul C. Curtis – The Garden Island LIHU‘E — Jim Read, the Kaua‘i Fire Department’s training officer for nearly a year, doesn’t miss the commute nor the hours of his former firefighter assignment.
Jim Read,Training officer, Kaua‘i Fire Department
By Paul C. Curtis – The Garden Island
LIHU‘E — Jim Read, the Kaua‘i Fire Department’s training officer for nearly a year, doesn’t miss the commute nor the hours of his former firefighter assignment.
For most of his 11-plus-year career with KFD, he was a firefighter commuting from his Kapa‘a home to Westside stations, and working the long shifts firefighters work.
As training officer, he works weekday shifts in Lihu‘e. His wife Becky Rocco likes having her man home at night, he said. Read did experience a period of adjustment switching not only jobs but work hours, he added.
Read, 38, said the training officer is considered a captain’s position, a step up from his former fire apparatus operator (FAO) designation after being promoted from firefighter.
He took the training officer position in November of last year, and is responsible for training all of the KFD recruits, running the KFD academy for new hires, and setting up essentially all of the training for all new and veteran KFD personnel. He schedules hazardous- materials (HAZMAT), cardiopulmonary resuscitation, firstresponder, ocean-rescue, and other training. Read explained that all KFD personnel are required to have current U.S. Lifeguard Association emergency-response certification.
The Ocean Safety Bureau’s supervisors conduct training for lifeguards.
A new KFD recruit class will be starting soon, said Read.
About his training duties, Read said the best thing about his work is “being able to shape the next generation of firefighters,” turning them from “civilians to firefighters in three months.” Recruits are considered recruits for a full year, but Read’s academy lasts three months.
While he is technically Capt. Jim Read, KFD training officer, he will never stop being a firefighter, or talking about what he enjoys most about his job as a firefighter: “The opportunity to serve the community and be able to make a difference in people’s lives, especially when they most need it.” In his spare time, Read is airborne.
“I like to fly my airplane,” a small, two-seater parked at Lihu‘e Airport. Charlie Metivier is the previous KFD training officer.
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
