The Nashville Fire Department is suspending visits to all schools and children groups as COVID-19 cases increase
In an abundance of caution the Nashville Fire Department is suspending all “Show and Tell” programs, day school visits and in-school sessions for Breaking Limitations Accepting Zero Excuses (B.L.A.Z.E.) Mentoring program until further notice to proactively prevent any potential exposure from NFD personnel to students.
NFD personnel often visit public schools, day-school programs and child-care centers to educate children on fire safety. These “Show and Tell” visits are free and allow NFD personnel to interact with children in a fun way.
The BLAZE Mentoring Program sends NFD personnel into Metro Nashville Public Schools’ 12 Core High Schools. Mentors work with students on life-skills including, financial education, college preparation and other topics meant to help high school students transition from high school into their next phase of life.
BLAZE’s scholarship program is still operational and selected winners will still be announced in May 2020.
BLAZE is amending the scholarship requirements to allow those students who only had the chance to participate in 2 BLAZE sessions to be eligible. Previously, students were required to attend at least 3 BLAZE sessions to be eligible for the scholarship.
Applications can be found on http://www.blazenashville.org/ and the deadline for submission is May 3, 2020.
We look forward to awarding the scholarships and bringing BLAZE back to schools in Fall 2020.
NFD personnel are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic by nature of their jobs.
The situation with the coronavirus is evolving, and our goal is to keep our personnel safe and healthy while continuing to provide exceptional medical care to the public.
The administration has provided updated protocols for personnel who encounter patients who exhibits any flu-like signs or symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and any patient who has been coded as 60-A (contagious airborne illness) by dispatch.
“We are committed to our role in community engagement, especially with children and MNPS students,” Director Chief William Swann said. “The COVID-19 pandemic makes it critical that we do everything we can to not only serve our community but protect the community from possible exposure due to our personnel responding to medical calls that could include someone who has COVID-19.”
The NFD will resume school visits when it is deemed safe by our medical team.