ECPI University Nursing Students and Faculty Join Lake Mary Fire Department Open House
Nursing students from ECPI University's Orlando campus in Lake Mary spent a Saturday at the Lake Mary Fire Department Open House, an event built around fire safety and hands-on activities for local families.
The Lake Mary Fire Department has served Central Florida for more than 70 years and holds top-tier national accreditations for fire protection and emergency response. Its Community Risk Reduction team runs outreach like the Open House to connect residents with the people who serve them.
The event brought together two things ECPI University's nursing program values: community engagement and the kind of hands-on learning that happens outside a classroom.
What happened during the Lake Mary Fire Department Open House?
The Open House brought the public into the station for a day of fire safety education and family activities, with residents walking through the apparatus bays and talking with the firefighters and paramedics who answer their calls.
Tina O'Brien, Public Safety Administrator at the Lake Mary Fire Department, credited the partners who helped pull it off. "Your efforts helped us create a fun and welcoming event where our community could spend time, learn about fire safety, and build meaningful relationships with the people who serve them," she says.
The nursing students spent the day out among families, helping with activities and answering questions alongside the crew. Faculty members Dr. Sharon Haylett and Dr. Lori Green joined the students, meeting neighbors and families throughout the day.
Why is community engagement important in nursing?
Nursing runs on trust, and trust is built through connection. A nurse who can read a worried family and put a stranger at ease does the job better. Those instincts are hard to teach from a textbook. This makes local engagement an experience that is both practical and invaluable.
Community engagement is a familiar sight at ECPI University's Orlando campus. The Physical Therapist Assistant program, for example, brings that same approach into its own coursework. PTA students often head into local settings like high schools and clinics to conduct in-the-field observations and screenings, giving back locally while sharpening the skills their careers will demand.
The Orlando team also turned out for the Lake Mary Police Department's National Night Out, an evening focused on safety and connection between residents and local law enforcement.
For future nurses, it all starts with caring. And that lesson is best learned by engaging with the people they will one day serve.
