Students in the Public Service Academy at the LeCroy Career Technical Center spent Thursday learning extrication techniques.

“It is really important to teach the students what to do in the case of a vehicle crash,” fire instructor Mark Thornton said. “We teach them how to take a vehicle apart to extricate a patient instead of maneuvering the patient. A lot of times you could be dealing with someone who has been injured, and you want to maneuver them as little as possible.”

Students in both the police and fire portions of the Public Service Academy spent much of Thursday learning valuable training tips on extrication.

Auto Collision donated two vehicles for the students to practice with, Thornton said.

“This is a critical skill that they will need to learn,” Thornton said. “There are some vehicle crashes where you have an individual who is completely entrapped and you need to know how to be able to get them out of that vehicle in a short amount of time.”

Thornton said a representative from Holmatro Rescue Tools came to the school to let the students use various pieces of equipment associated with fire safety.

Earlier on Thursday a representative from North American Fire Equipment also brought items for the students to practice using.

“It has been great because they aren’t out here trying to sell us equipment,” Thornton said. “They are just letting the students use the equipment and become familiar with it and that has been great. We are really appreciative to them for letting us use it.”

Fire instructor Andrew Ellison said it was also a good experience for the students in the law enforcement side of the Public Service Academy to receive the extrication training.

“It has been really great that we can cross-train the students today,” Ellison said.

The Public Service Academy is designed to educate students in grades 10-12 about issues in law enforcement such as criminal investigation and homeland security, as well as other topics including firefighting techniques and fire safety.