SAN ANTONIO -- Firefighters are protesting. The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association showed up at city chambers Wednesday afternoon to protest the way they learn their life-saving skills.
"Basically you [have] all these rookies that [are] coming out of training academy saying, we didn't learn anything from the health sciences center," said Association President Chris Steele in a meeting with city council.
The city of San Antonio has been contracting its firefighter training through the University of Texas Health Science Center for more than 35 years. The Association is asking city council to bring emergency medical training "in house," instead of renewing another two year contract with the UT Health Science Center.
"More of a direct one-on-one relationship in training our firefighters to be the best they can be. And that's part of the negotiation process right now," commented City Councilmember John Clamp.
Association officials argue that letting certified firefighters train their own colleagues would keep citizens safer, and save tax payers about a half million dollars a year.
While the Association hopes to transition to in house training within a year, fire department management is pushing for another 2 year contract with the University... "to give us time to fully look at other alternatives... to see if they are truly what is best for the city of San Antonio," said Assistant Fire Chief Carl Wedige.
Officials from UT Health Science Center say they've never had an issue with program quality, and that they're currently in negotiation with the city.
City Council will hold a special meeting next week to discuss firefighter training, and expects to make a decision on whether to renew the contract by the end of this month.
