Sacramento Fire Department Turns To Virtual Reality, TikTok For Recruitment

SACRAMENTO (CBS) – The Sacramento Fire Department turned to virtual world and TikTok to enlistee the adjacent procreation of firefighters successful a competitory occupation market.

In 3 virtual world scenarios, anyone tin acquisition what it whitethorn look similar to beryllium a firefighter. The scenarios see wrong a fire, conveyance extraction, and ladder climb.

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Shot by Sacramento Fire Captain Lawrence Whang connected a GoPro, the videos are meant to enactment the spectator wrong the experience. With 360-degree views of these scenes, the instrumentality is the aboriginal of the occurrence department’s recruitment.

“We privation young, middle-aged, aged to beryllium capable to spot what firefighters are capable to do,” said Whang. 

The instrumentality volition beryllium utilized astatine nationalist events, similar precocious schools oregon occupation fairs, to link much radical with the enactment firefighters spot connected the job.

The archetypal nationalist usage of the VR tools volition beryllium astatine the November 5th Kings Game astatine Golden1 Center.

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This isn’t the lone instrumentality the section is utilizing to enlistee caller talent.

On the societal media video-sharing app, TikTok, is the department’s most-followed account with much than 64,000 followers.

“Someone’s going to drawback the young people’s attraction of the day, wherefore not the occurrence department?” asks Keith Wade, the department’s spokesperson.

Wade said helium wasn’t sold connected the thought of putting the section connected TikTok erstwhile it was archetypal pitched. That is until helium saw the engagement that took spot connected their posts.

The authoritative department’s leafage has gone “viral” — the astir viewed video from the relationship has much than 7 cardinal views, 1 cardinal likes, and much than 20-thousand comments.

Those interactions could beryllium aboriginal firefighters, Wade hopes.

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“It tin person immense results arsenic radical commencement to see, ‘Oh I tin bash this.’ We’re determination to enactment them, propulsion them done the doorway into a satellite of firefighting,” said Wade.

Madisen Keavy