It is the season of giving, for some it is business as usual while for others it is time to drop everything when the call comes to go out to save a life.

Sometimes it might be a person who has fallen and can’t get up or an amber alert, while at other times it could be more severe like an emotionally disturbed person.

This is when we need to turn to our heroes. Or in this case, HERROs. Citizen volunteers in Westchester County have joined together to volunteer under the Higher Education Recruitment and Retention Opportunity program which assists local volunteer agencies.

“To be eligible, a H.E.R.R.O. applicant must be an active member of a volunteer fire department, fire company, fire district, or EMS agency for one year. Volunteers must maintain acceptable volunteer activity and training levels as set forth by the county during their entire course of study. Active volunteer emergency services personnel can qualify for tuition reimbursement or student loan repayment assistance,” the website states. 

Currently, there is a need for new volunteers. “Due to a variety of factors, local volunteer fire departments and volunteer Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies are currently experiencing a critical need to recruit and retain members.”

This program allows college students the chance to earn a grant moan, up to $6,000 dollars. It could help one pay an outstanding balance but he or she needs to have one year of service and be an active member.

Just like colleges, they have semesters. This isn’t limited to just to medical but also extends to firefighters as well.

There are qualifications that are needed to join, plus you will be trained and need to know basic training as well: How to stop bleeding, CPR certification, and more are the skills that are needed and will be taught.

CPR, according to the American Heart Association, “is an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest.”

Stop the Bleed is a program that teaches people the three techniques that help save a life if someone bleeds out.

How to use your hands to apply pressure to a wound, how to pack a wound to control bleeding, and how to correctly apply a tourniquet.

Ambulance driving is something that member Andy Dijusto covers.

There are two ambulances: 50-B1 and 50-b2, he explains, but driving the big trucks are not the most challenging part of the job.

“The hardest part of the job is when someone dies, after 15 min of attempting to resuscitate them back to life,” he says. 

What else they do besides helping out the community it is building and spreading cheer. They have planned events all year, and on Dec. 23 they have a Christmas event.

They decorated one of the ambulances but not only for Christmas but also for Halloween.

The program is administered by the Department of Emergency Service. Students must keep a 2.0 GPA. An applicant’s department or agency will have to verify that these training and service requirements have been met. Send an e-mail to [email protected] with your questions.

The new semester begins Jan. 12.