Fire Safety Officer Captain Bob Telless developed the driving course for both driving in town as well as responding to calls on Route 44.

"The firefighters get practice in driving," he said. "The main focus is on highway response."

The safety officer's drill typically takes place in October. Telless has been leading the training since 2008 and believes it's a valuable lesson for all the new firefighters and is a refresher course for the others. He reviews hazards and expectations.

The department has launched a Cancer Prevention Initiative in an effort to educate and protect firefighters of today and the future.

"I wish someone had given me this information when I started,” said Deputy Chief Mike Hill, who is in charge of the committee that put the program together. “For those of us who have been here 20 years or more, we know we’re at risk.”

For years, firefighters fought fires not realizing that that post-fire cleanup was as important as wearing their turnout gear and helmets.

During the month of October, the fire department has been training with a new chest compression device called LUCAS 3. The device administers 102 chest compressions per minute during Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. According to Physio Control, the product developer, “the system is designed to help improve outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest victims and improve operations for medical responders.”

“It (LUCAS 3) maintains consistent pressure at a consistent depth,” said Steve Heath, Carrollton Fire Department Emergency Medical Services chief. “It eliminates issues like carrying patients down flights of stairs or over long distances.”

The department received the devices as a donation from the Metrocrest Hospital authority. Heath said the medical organization had been looking to fund the fire department with some different things. The fire department evaluated three different devices before settling on the LUCAS device.