WINNEMUCCA - Twelve Lowry High School students will be fully certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) as soon as they pass the National Registry EMT exam in a few weeks.
The seniors are the first Lowry High School EMT graduates, but they won't be the last, as both the school district and Humboldt General Hospital (HGH) emergency services have confirmed the class will be offered again for the 2013 - 2014 school year.
The EMT students have traveled to the HGH emergency services classroom in the ambulance barn three times a week for the two-hour classes, and they've done plenty of study outside the classroom as well.
Paramedic Ken Whittaker taught the class and said, "It was very exciting for me to work with high school students. I usually teach adults."
Whittaker said the main difference he noticed was how quickly the high school seniors learned the material.
"The rate at which they absorb information was great - they picked up on the math and science easily because they've been learning it in school and it was fresh in their minds."
School District Superintendent Dr. Dave Jensen said the district received about $18,000 to support the program. The money came from a Nevada Department of Education grant for career and technical education.
Kelly Novi, school district curriculum director, said that with the level of expertise available through HGH Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the partnership was a natural fit.
Novi congratulated the graduates, saying the training wouldn't have been possible without the hospital administration and EMS support.
Novi said when he learned about the grant offered for career and technical education, he was excited about the thought of creating some sort of a program and they narrowed it down to EMT instruction.
He added, "Having an instructor like Ken to take charge of this program at the school district was perfect."
Novi pointed out that the school district could not have provided this level of expertise at Lowry High School, and added "there's no reason to when we have this kind of expertise in our community."
HGH EMS Director Pat Songer called the high school EMT training program "one of the neatest things I've seen in my 24-year career in EMS."
He said that in addition to classroom instruction, the program gave the young people opportunities to ride with the ambulance crew and experience hands-on training.
Whittaker said being able to offer the EMT training to the high school students free of charge was pretty great. He noted that a standard EMT class costs $800, plus $70 to take the final certification tests.
Whittaker said these students will have training now that could help put them through college.
Songer said "EMS has come a really long way; in the past it was not looked on as a profession - now individuals have an opportunity to enter into a career-driven path."
That path, he said, goes beyond becoming an EMT to being a paramedic, and even continuing to work into a number of paramedicine fields.
HGH Administrator Jim Parrish congratulated the students and thanked parents in the audience at a recent HGH board meeting for their support.
Parrish mentioned that local physician Dr. Leonard Perkinson started out his medical career as an EMT, saying "you can go anywhere from here."
Hospital Board Chairman Moe Hanzlik told the students, "We're proud of you for taking time out of your busy school time to commit to this class."
He said it takes persistence to handle life, school, and EMT training all at once, and told the students, "You will be able to make a difference that will make your hours of training worth it."[[In-content Ad]]
