State Farm partnership program with MU FRTI. From Left: State Farm Sales Leader Ryan Kenney; Columbia State Farm Agents Brian Hazelrigg, Cheryl Kelly, DJ Hinds, Meera White, Justin Hahn, Phyllis Nichols, and Lisa Cravens; and MU FRTI Director David Hedrick.
The Curators of the University of Missouri, on behalf of the University of Missouri Fire & Rescue Training Institute (MU FRTI), recently received a 2016 State Farm Good Neighbor Citizenship Grant. The State Farm gift to MU FRTI will support specialized training for Missouri emergency responders to highway incidents. Through this training the first responder will gain additional competency in the quick stabilization and removal of accident victims thus improving patient survival, while safely managing the incident scene and preventing additional accidents and injuries. The grant also provides funding for training on vehicle firefighting, a growing concern in Missouri.
Director Hedrick acknowledged the importance of the funding support for training by saying, “This training project, supported by State Farm, will improve the on-scene capabilities and safety of the firefighters as well as the citizens they serve.” The funding provided to MU FRTI was part of an larger overall gift to the University of Missouri intended to support a variety of University educational initiatives.
The Good Neighbor Citizenship Grants provided by State Farm Companies Foundation® and State Farm® help build safer, stronger and better educated communities across the United States. The grants focus on three areas: safety, education, and community development.
Missouri’s 6 million citizens are served by an estimated 29,000 firefighters of which approximately 73% are volunteers. According to Missouri’s Fire Incident Report System, firefighters responded to over 350,000 incidents in 2015 which equates to almost one response every one and half minutes.
MU FRTI is a unit of MU Extension and is charged with the responsibility of providing comprehensive continuing professional education training to Missouri’s fire service and emergency response personnel. The Institute provides training to approximately 13,000 fire and emergency service first responders each year.