By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Members of Alabaster’s Teen Council spent the day on April 11 learning about everything from the city’s wastewater treatment facility to how the Alabaster Fire Department treats trauma victims.

Throughout the day, members of the 2017-2018 Teen Council shadowed officials in several city departments, such as the Police Department, Fire Department, Finance Department, Personnel Department, Environmental Services, Parks and Recreation, Municipal Court and more.

Leading up to the day, the Teen Council members requested city departments based on their interests, and were matched based on availability, said Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon.

“It lets them know how many areas of life our city services impact,” Handlon said. “The roads they drive on, every time they turn on the water, the traffic lights, it’s all impacted by a city department.

“I always look forward to hearing the conversations they have when they are finished, compared to what they thought at the beginning,” Handlon added. “A lot of times, you can see the light bulb go off for them.”

The five Teen Council members who shadowed the Fire Department were able to see how the firefighters and paramedics care for victims from the time they arrive at the scene to the time the victim reaches the hospital.

After visiting the city’s fire stations, the group toured the Shelby Baptist Medical Center’s Emergency Department, where Emergency Department Manager Mike Wesson showed the students where victims are unloaded from an ambulance and how they are cared for once they arrive at the hospital.

“Those EMAs are really brave, because they don’t know what they are getting into when they go on a call,” Wesson said. “It’s easy for us here because we have everything we need and we know what we’re treating. With the EMAs, it’s just them. What they do, it’s a hard job.”

Alabaster Fire Chief Tim Love said the day was intended to give the students a comprehensive understanding of the services the department offers.

“We wanted them to see the whole process so they can get a feel for what we really do,” Love said.