October 30, 2009

 

WAVERLY---A former hospital in the Southern Tier will now be used to train first responders.

     On Friday officials announced the old Tioga General Hospital located next to Elderwood Health Care at Tioga in Waverly will be a place to train firefighters, police and SWAT teams on emergency response. The hospital shut down in the late 1980's and Elderwood owns the building.

     The Waverly Barton Fire Department has been looking for a place for training and chief was blown away by the donation of space. The Executive Director of Development at Elderwood, David Tosetto, is glad the organization could give back to the community.

      During the training, no fire will be set and no live ammunition will be used. Residents have also been told to expect more activity at the building. Waverly Fire Chief Donald Howard says. "Now we have a state of the art training facility. Not just for the Waverly Barton District, but all the agencies within Tioga County, Pennsylvania. We even have people calling from Buffalo and some SWAT Teams are coming."

     Howard also plans to invite Cub and Boy Scout troops to help with evacuation simulations. He hopes this will spark interest in a younger generation to become volunteer firefighters or EMS. Lack of volunteers has been a big problem facing districts like Waverly.

     Work still needs to be done to get the former hospital ready. Officials hope to start training in three to four weeks.