Coastal Football alum uses skills learned in sports to serve his community at Midway Fire and Rescue
Being part of a team has always come naturally to Santini Washington. Like many young men, he got his start on a football field. At Lovejoy High School in Georgia, he led his team to an 11-1 season and the second round of the Class 5A playoffs in his senior year. It was this performance that garnered the attention of the then brand-new Coastal Carolina University football program.
As a scholarship player for the Chanticleers from 2004 through 2007, Washington recorded 66 receptions, averaged 21.4 yards per catch, amassed 964 receiving yards and crossed into the end zone four times. He also helped the Chants to three consecutive Big South Conference Championships in 2004 through 2006, and in 2007 was a dual threat player, notching two interceptions on defense.
There’s no doubt that Washington is an accomplished player on the field. Football brought him joy and instilled guiding principles like discipline and teamwork – but it was not his true calling. After a brief stint playing arena football, Washington returned to the Myrtle Beach area in 2010. While working at a retail store, he decided he needed to get a “real job.” One day, Washington says, he heard a recruitment ad for the City of Myrtle Beach Fire Department on the radio, which spurred him to reach out to a family member for advice.
“My uncle and them, they (were in the fire service) in Atlanta,” Washington said. “I called him and he was like, ‘You got to be ready to see all kinds of crazy stuff. You got to have a solid mind.’ I was like, ‘It can’t be too bad.’”
So Washington went to a Myrtle Beach fire station and put in an application, and didn’t have to wait long for a callback. Before he knew it, he was going through the rigorous testing and physicals required of a new firefighter. He spent six years in Myrtle Beach before heading south to Midway Fire Rescue, where he has recently been promoted to Lieutenant EMT, has become a key member of the team and is frequently called upon to “coach” new recruits.
“He’s phenomenal. He doesn’t stop,” said Midway Chief Brent McClellan. “He does implement his football days here. When we get new people on shift, he gets them up here every day. They’re doing drills all day long. He does that because he knows he’s sitting in the right front of that fire truck, there’s somebody sitting right behind him, and he’s only as good as that person is.”
Washington, ever humble and quick to wave off praise, attributes the skills he puts to use at Midway to his years playing football. The staff at the department are as much a team as the football players at CCU were, he said.
“Here at the fire service, you’re around the same people every day. You do a lot of stuff together, you work together to accomplish one goal. If one person doesn’t do their job, the team can’t win. But if everyone does their job, if we all move to the same beat, it works. That’s how I look at it. That’s why I love the fire service,” Washington said.
“If I see one of my teammates slacking, I’m like, ‘Okay, we’re going to work out a little bit more. We’re going to do the extra things to be better.’ It’s just like watching film. If I don’t watch film, I don’t know what’s going on on Saturday. I can’t pick up on little hints or clues. But if I watch film, or if I train or practice, when I come to a door, I can force that door. If we train on it, when we come to that situation and we trust (our training), it’ll work out.”
It’s the team aspect of the fire service that drives Washington to excel and to mentor younger coworkers. Even though he’s now 14 years into his career, he always brings a smile and is always working to make his teammates better, McClellan said.
“I always know I’m not going to find him inside the firehouse; I’m going to have to go out back. He’s going to be out there running drills or something. Just like this morning, I go out and he’s one of two people out there in full turnout gear, doing their stuff, up and down the ladder, practicing ventilation. He’s like that every day, and he always brings a smile. He always brings a fresh breath to it. He has a knack for just being able to help them understand, for leading by example,” McClellan said.
“I’m from the City … I never ran a chainsaw, I didn’t know what an ax was, I didn’t know what the Jaws of Life or none of that was. That’s why I say this will teach you a whole bunch of stuff,” Washington said. “I try to get a lot of people to come in, a lot of young men. It’s a great place. It’ll teach you how to be a man. You learn how to use tools, you learn how to read maps, you learn how to be around people. It’s a lot of stuff I wish I knew when I was younger; I guess I just grew a little bit slower. But now that I know, I want to share.”