New EMS Classes Coming to Ind. Hospital

July 06--Community Howard Regional Health announced the hospital will offer an accredited EMS class starting July 26.

Potential students will be introduced to the class at "Survivors Night" Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m., where they are asked to bring a loved one, and they will discuss what it means to be an EMT and about the program.

According to Randy McMillen, EMS education coordinator for Community Howard, they will talk to the loved ones about what the students could potentially be exposed to on the job.

"A lot of the time, we don't see nice things. We see very grotesque and bad things," said McMillen.

The loved ones will be given contact information, in case they feel their student is experiencing any sort of mental anguish from the program or job.

The program itself will last 20 weeks, with classes every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6 to 10 p.m. Students will be under the watch of six instructors, all of them professionals in the field.

According to McMillen, there will not be a textbook. Instead, students will receive an electronic tablet that has all of the material on it already. Each chapter will begin and end with a quiz. The software on the tablet will then isolate what areas the student scores lowest, and homework assignments will automatically be created to help the student learn in that area.

"We can actually customize the homework assignment, and tailor it to that specific student's needs," said McMillen.

McMillen explained that will give the instructors time to focus on preparing their lectures and class material, and give the students the attention they require based on their specific needs.

He said this route is a bit more expensive, "But for the student, it's invaluable."

McMillen also said the program is designed to make the transition into an actual EMT career as seamless as possible. Indiana law requires eight hours of ambulance hours, eight hours of emergency room hours and 10 patient contacts for an accredited program.

McMillen said Community Howard's program will require 36 hours in an ambulance, 24 hours in the emergency room and 20 patient assessments. Those assessments will require them to go all the way through the process with a patient -- from doing an initial assessment to writing a report.

This, McMillen hopes, will make them more comfortable in the actual job, cutting back costs of on-the-job training.

"We want to prepare students to be out-in-the-field ready, not just take a test ready."

The program itself came from a desire to restart the EMT program at Community Howard, which they used to have several years back.

"We wanted to do it, and bring it back as a hospital-based program," said McMillen, adding there aren't many class options in the area.

After talking with various affiliates and volunteer agencies, McMillen petitioned the hospital administration, who gave the go ahead to begin the program.

McMillen said the interest in the program has been massive. He guessed he had 60 phone calls from people interested. Some of that interest, he said, may have come from affiliate agencies and volunteer organizations sending first responders to upgrade to EMT positions.

An interview process will be used to fill the 20 spots in the class. After the 20-week class is over, students then have to pass the national registry EMT exam.

When the program ends, McMillen said the instructors will take four weeks, decide what needs to be changed about the class and then start over again. He said they want to continue that processes until they run out of students to put through the class.

Cody Neuenschwander can be reached at 765-454-8570 or by email at cody@kokomotribune.com

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