Topeka Fire Chief discusses decision to remove EMT requirement

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The Topeka Fire Department has dropped a long-standing requirement to attract more recruits.

Last week, the Topeka Fire Department, along with City Manager Stephen Wade, made the decision to no longer require its new hires to be EMT-certified.

Fire Chief Randy Phillips said he hopes removing this barrier will increase the low enrollment the Fire Department has recently been experiencing.

“We currently have almost 70 people signed up to take these next written entrance exams which is quite a jump for us in what we’ve seen recently in numbers. And well over half of those are individuals who do not currently their EMT certification,” Chief Phillips said.

From now on, when individuals are hired, they will go through an EMT class at Washburn Tech. Once they complete that course, they will begin the 12-week fire recruit academy.

Chief Phillips said there has already been a spike in turnout since they dropped the prerequisite.

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