New Public Safety Director

Curtis Dowdle has his hands full. He's the new director of Southwestern Community College's Extension Education and Public Safety Training Center. He's also an instructor for the center, a position he's held since 1993. And the Franklin native is a volunteer fireman, a job he has filled for the past 12 years.

Curtis Dowdle, director of SCC's Public Safety Training Center and it Extension Education offerings, plans to take training at the Center "to the next level" to ensure public safety personnel can best serve their communities.

If you infer from his professional and volunteer work that Dowdle likes to help people, you would be correct. Even in high school, he knew that helping people would be the focus of his life. To that end, he entered SCC's Criminal Justice program in 1983 and took Basic Law Enforcement Training at SCC in 1985 at which time he received his Law Enforcement Certification. Upon completion of the program, he served with law enforcement agencies in Macon County for several years. It was while working full time with the Highlands Police Department that he signed on as a law enforcement instructor for SCC. Then four years ago, he was able to become a fire instructor for the college.

"Teaching in public safety is wonderful; I've enjoyed it from the start," Dowdle said. "Since I began, law enforcement and public safety training has been one of my loves. So when I had the opportunity five years ago to do it full time, I took it."

Even though he was working full time, Dowdle continued to augment his skills with additional training and education. In 2004 he earned a General Occupational Technology Associate degree from SCC, a program designed for people who have acquired enough credits to receive an associate's degree in a trade or technical specialty who want to prepare for teaching or other purposes. And in Spring 2005 he received a degree in Criminal Justice from Western Carolina University.

"I was able to take most of the SCC program online," he said. "Otherwise, I don't think I could have done it. My family was very supportive throughout the time I was working on both degrees."

Before being named as director of Extension Education and Public Safety Training this summer, Dowdle was already responsible for coordination of in-service training for the Public Safety Training Center and helped coordinate Basic Law Enforcement Training when needed.

Extension Education represents a new area of responsibility for Dowdle. This includes overseeing a large area of studies related to public safety including certification and recertification classes for Fire and Rescue Personnel, Emergency Medical Technicians, motorcycle safety training, defensive driving and other classes.

Dowdle says there is a similarity in the working environment for both his former responsibilities and those that have been added. "The instructors and staff always work as a team," he said. "If someone else in any of our programs needs help, we pull together to make sure the students get what they need. That's necessary in order for us to meet the challenges of our training programs."

According to Dowdle, the SCC Public Safety Training Center serves law enforcement, rescue, fire fighting and emergency medical agencies both within SCC's service area and beyond. "For example, in September we had some 200 people here from as far away as Georgia and Tennessee for our WNC Area Rescue/EMS College," he said. "Our fire classes serve 30 departments in the region and we can tailor-make our courses to fit the needs of the departments."

Dowdle has observed many changes in public safety training since his first years as a police officer. "Back then, it wasn't required but I wanted to learn what I could do before EMS arrived on the scene that would help them when they arrived," he said. "Now officers have to have training in Medical Responder, or basic first aid, so they can control someone's bleeding or keep a victim's airway open before the EMS team gets there."

Dowdle has seen other changes, including additional demands on people in the public safety field. And he foresees changes in training to meet these demands. "We'll offer even more advanced training. We'll have to take training to the next level so law enforcement officers, EMTs, fire fighters and rescue personnel who come to train here can offer the best possible care to the people of their communities and handle any situation that might arise," he said.

"These jobs have become more demanding physically and mentally. We want to put the best people out there in these departments. We want to challenge them to do their very best. The only way we can do that is to raise the standards.

"In addition, we want the public safety people to be safe. So safety is a big issue with us. When I started in law enforcement, safety training wasn't a major part of the training. In some cases, small departments lacked the funds to send officers for such training. But that's different today. There are strict requirements for safety training and all the departments in the region make sure their people get it. We are constantly busy offering classes both through the week and on the weekends."

Dowdle says he and the staff and instructors at SCC are well aware of their responsibilities to the people who train at the center. "The people we serve are outstanding and their commitment to serving the community drives us to deliver the best possible programs for them. We worry about their lives and hope we've trained them well enough that they'll go home at the end of their shift, alive and well. We're always aware that people can lose their lives in the line of duty."

As noted, Dowdle likes to help people. "I've always been interested in serving the community," Dowdle said. "I joined the fire department because I wanted to give back to the community that has given so much to me. I like it here; it's been a good, safe place to grow up and it's where I want to live with my family."

To learn more about the SCC Public Safety Training Center, visit www.southwesterncc.edu or phone 828.369.2428.

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