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Meet Billy D. Kidd. Even his name is way cool. Billy is a firefighter for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and he’s a member of the elite group known as the Search and Rescue team. Billy flies all over the world rescuing people when disasters strike: things like earthquakes, hurricanes and even the terrible thing that happened to the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11. Recently, I sat down with Billy to learn more about his Cool Career. Here’s what he had to say:
Tell me about your cool career. What do you do? I work for Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue, I’m a Flight Medic, and I’m on the county’s specialized search and rescue team. I work with a very special partner, Mizu, who is also a search and rescue specialist. Mizu is my dog. What do you like best about your job? I like helping people.
I like saving people’s lives. It
feels really good when you do that because people appreciate what you’ve done
so much. Sometimes they call to
thank me, sometimes they bake a cake for me.
Once, after helping to deliver someone’s baby, they named the baby
after me. Those kinds of things
make me feel really good, and proud to do what I do.
Tell me the most exciting thing that ever happened to you. I think the first time I delivered a baby was the most exciting thing I can remember. There’s nothing more special than bringing a new life into this world. If kids want to be like you when they grow up, what do they need to do? You
need to work hard in school and learn a lot, because you have to have a lot of
knowledge to save people’s lives. You
would need to study emergency medical services and get a college degree. You
often need to pass medical exams and fitness tests, because our profession is
very competitive. And you have to really want to help people. It has to be a passion that comes from your heart. I’m sure lots of kids would like to meet a Fire Rescue person like you and learn more about this Cool Career. How can they do that? They can call the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department and arrange for a Firefighter to come visit their school. And one last question…do Firefighters really slide down a pole when the bell rings? Not in most stations. There are poles in some fire stations because oftentimes the firefighters' classrooms and dorms are on the second floor and the fire trucks are on the first. It is much faster to slide down than to go down the stairs. Our fire station doesn’t have a second floor, so we just go out the door.
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