Saving High School EMT Programs

First up in the news this week, let’s look at a great article I picked up from one of the local news sources in nearby Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The Elco high school there has one of the longest running, if not the longest-running high school EMT program in the country. It’s been going on for 31 years.

Old EMT Student Turns New EMT Instructor

With the retirement recently of the originator of that program, the school system was considering closing the program down. Surrounding EMS services, however, many of them graduates of this program, gathered together volunteers, resources and funding to keep the program afloat. Paramedic Loren Miller returned to the program he first took in high school to take on the role of the lead instructor teaching these young EMTs the skills they need to continue on in life as EMS professionals.

Teaching these students a valuable skill while they’re still in high school has huge benefit for their communities.  A lot of these kids then run with their local volunteer services to help out. When they graduate high school these EMTs are ready to get out there and begin working.

Health Professionals of the Next Generation

Loren did just that and as he did many of them will probably continue on and become paramedics, nurses and other kinds of health care professionals. This is what is exciting in these types of high school programs. Health care continues to represent one of the more rapidly expanding job markets. Getting into the health care job market early will help these students get jobs and continue on into other health careers.

Also programs like this are opportunities to interact with the local government, with local educators, and with all the parents. It’s a great way to educate communities about EMS and how we operate. It’s an opportunity for us to continue to reach out to our public and educate them along with educating new providers for the EMS systems.

I’m excited and really heartened to see that the local services got together to keep this program afloat and I congratulate them and good luck to all of those EMT students. Some of them are probably checking out the MedicCast right now so I have welcome you from Elco high school to checking this program out and congratulations and good luck on your studies.

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Follow up on the links for this news item and the additional resources in this episode’s shownotes — Lidocaine EMS Review and Episode 302.

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