We are gearing up for the next one!

We are doing a First Responder/Emergency Care Attendant Course for the last time. Held in VT EMS District #8 at Granville Town Hall, Sundays from 9 am to 4 pm beginning May 1st. With a pre-enrollment of almost 30 applicants ranging from age 16 to 60, this is sure to be an interesting group! This is the last time we will be presenting a course for this level due to The First Responder certification is being phased out to a begin a new level called Emergency Medical Responder. This class will be transitioned to the new level in the next year. Stay tuned to see how the class is going..... we'll keep you posted.

And we are done!

We have just finished our EMT Basic transition class as students are in the final stretches of taking their National Registry Exams for certification. Congratulations to Rick Wade, Jerry Tardif, Kim Summers, Sarah Froebel, Preston Bagley, Brian Resnik and Preston Bagley! Congratulations! We'll add the video of the final practical exam shortly. On a cold February morning (-15 below) with the wind blowing, (emergencies don't always happen in warm and fuzzy environments) they were "troopers" as they we sent to a scene of a staged motor vehicle collision, not knowing what they were going to find. A first responder arrived, analyzed for scene safety and a snapshot of what was happening, as the team arrived, they had to decide who was in command, work together for safety, assessment, stabilization, treatment, extrication, transport and documentation. One of our new recruits to the Junior Medical corp, videotaped the exercise for a high school drivers ed project and put it too music. Good job too all. You will be great EMTs!

EMT Transition Class starts off with a bang

Class this weekend was a combination of classroom and practical skills outside and on the move. We had Richard Lord, Esq. one of our new advanced level Emergency Medical Technicians with the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service give a presentation on Medical, Legal issues and Ethics, a great session. Thanks, Richard. Photos to follow. Brian Lavery, EMT-I and Driver worked with students on Lifting and Moving Patients.

Sunday's session was a good exercise in anatomical terms and locations with Brian Resnik our resident retired P.A. (photos to follow later this week) and Kim Kathan, EMT-I and Spencer Leonard one of the new MRVAS drivers and EMT student helped with basic vital signs and moving us around town in the ambulance while we were applying the new skills sets and learning about the equipment on board.

A good weekend class, see you all Wednesday!

What? Class Outside?

Of course, outside...emergencies don't just happen in warm and comfortable environments. Our students need to be ready for any possible situation and be able to adapt. The time to learn that is right from the beginning.

They were troopers as we put into practice what they had learned and discussed the first three weeks of class. Groups worked on practical applications to develop their skills sets in oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airway placement, ventilatory assistance to the unresponsive patient and listening to breath sounds.

Groups then rotated ouside in the crisp, clean evening weather where they inspected and assessed live patients for respiratory and circulatory stability, then lifted amd moved the unresponsive patient (through proper "packaging" into the awaiting ambulance.

The next station involved listening to breath souands in the live patient and acquiring respiratory rates and heart rates in a moving ambulance. Not as easy as it might seem.

We are off to a good start.

First Responders in Training

During the January 13 session of our course, students learned about identification and description location of landmarks in anatomical terms. With the well-recieved "macaroni drill", each student taped a piece of macaroni on their partner depicting a potential injury site.

The rest of the class then had to describe the location in medical terminology simulating radio or telephone communication to an incoming medical crew, ambulance or emergency depatment. The rest of the session was learning about lifting and moving patients with specialized equipment and proper body mechanics. Stay tuned for further sessions where we take this out in the field....literally.

FIRST RESPONDER COURSE is off and running.

A final roster of 12 new candidates, we have a wonderful mix of experience in this group. A few nurses, a nursing student, a Physicians Assistant, a former pharmaceutical resarcher, a pre-med student, an inn keeper, a paraglider instructor, a banker, a few students who have retired early relocated to Vermont and want to give something back...a great group for discussion. We are looking forward to a great group. And some are already looking to moving on to the EMT course after this.

CPR Classes in the Home

It was a pleasure to be invited into their home. What a great way to spend an evening with Family and Friends and at the end of the session, have something that you feel good about in terms of being able to help someone in your family, in your community or on your travels. A great class this week in a private home where friends gathered for dinner and then invited us into their home to learn about how E-911 works, the benefits of organ donation and then learning cardio-pulmonary rescusitation for adults, children and infants. Followed up with some great espresso cake! Great cake Jess!