Rescue Talk™
Fire Department Scholarship Winner: Jacob Manley
Every quarter, one applicant earns a full scholarship to attend Roco Rescue’s Rescue Essentials course. This quarter, the recipient was Jacob Manley, a 23-year-old firefighter paramedic from Le Mars, Iowa.
Jacob’s journey into emergency response started early. “I got my EMT when I was in high school and kind of fell in love with it through that,” he said. He originally planned on a pre-med track in college, but his first EMT course changed his path completely. “I had no plans of pursuing it after that… I ended up really loving it with them and just ended up going from there to being a paramedic.”
When Jacob saw the scholarship announcement, he decided to apply. “I was always super interested in what you guys did,” he said. “I saw that scholarship application and I was like, well it’s worth a shot, you never know… and it turned out really great.”
“I saw that scholarship application and I was like, well it’s worth a shot, you never know… and it turned out really great.”
His week in Baton Rouge was almost entirely hands-on. “We’d spend probably 90% outside most days, maybe an hour and a half inside if that,” Jacob said. “I had so much fun every single day and the instructors were just top-notch. You had a question and they would know the answer right away.”
The biggest learning curve was mechanical advantage systems. “That took a lot of work at first, but then once I started doing it, it really started to make sense, it started to click,” Jacob said. His favorite tool was the twin release system, which “worked super good for confined space.”
Jacob encourages others to apply. “Absolutely do it, cause it’ll be one heck of a ride and you’ll have the greatest time ever,” he said.
“Absolutely do it, cause it’ll be one heck of a ride and you’ll have the greatest time ever”
Outside of work, Jacob lives with his dog, Tillie. He enjoys running, biking, swimming, and hiking, and has recently taken up triathlon training. Staying active, he says, helps him handle the physical demands and stress of the job.
Want to be next quarter’s scholarship winner? Apply Here!
