Georgia Department of Public Health providing human trafficking training
AUGUSTA, Ga (WJBF)- Human trafficking is a major issue in Georgia. The Georgia Department of Public Health wants to make sure more people can recognize the signs.
Georgia ranks in the top 10 states in the country for human trafficking. Now EMS employees across the state have the chance to learn how to spot the signs of a victim.
'I know that Augusta is is really a hot spot for sex trafficking, the interstate that we have come in through here. It's bad,' SAID John Smith, Senior Director of Operations of Gold Cross.
In Georgia more than 370 girls alone are trafficked every month at an average age of nearly 15 years old.
The Georgia Department of Public Health is offering first responders a voluntary training on how to spot signals that someone is being trafficked.
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'I'm really excited to have this training for our employees,' said Smith. 'Because we do get calls to motels and hotels and things like that, where people are that need help but they don't want to go to the emergency room and go to a doctor's office or something like that. So they call us.'
EMS employees in the state can get this optional training online. It's designed to give them the skills to spot potential human trafficking victims and get them help.
'Do they know where they are? Do they know who they're traveling with? Do they act open? Are they closed in or do they seem to be afraid?'
Smith says that while the training is voluntary- he may make it mandatory for employees because of the impact it could have.
'Well, I think giving them the tools to use to recognize what's going on. To maybe say, you know, something is just not right here. If we can stop one person from being set trafficked, then I think the impact is huge.'
Smith tells me he's come across several cases of trafficking himself and it's heartbreaking to see, and rewarding when first responders can get a victim out of the situation.
'These are someone's children, someone's son, someone's daughter. You know, their life is going to be ruined. It's very personal. And we're going to make it personal.'
First Lady Marty Kemp is also offering an online Human Trafficking Awareness training course for anyone who wants to take it.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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