Ga. EMS Students Train in Ambulance Simulator

Sept. 08—Students in the EMT/Paramedicine Program at Albany Technical College will now be trained in a special ambulance simulator. The paramedicine ambulance was installed recently in the lab area's Room 124, located in the Charles B. Gillespie Center for Emergency Responders building.

The new technology gives instructors the ability to step away and watch students through video monitors as they practice their skills. In conjunction with the simulator, a special medical mannequin "patient" is equipped with a microphone and a speaker. Instructors can speak through the mannequin and observe students' actions without being physically present in the simulator.

This method places the focus of the training on the patient, much like a real situation.

"This really gives us the ability to have the students get out of this truck like they were going out on a call, pick up the patient, bring them back, and go through all of the motions. It makes it more realistic," Thad Minick, paramedicine instructor at Albany Technical College, said.

Albany Tech faculty said the new teaching tool has become an integrated part of every class taught and is being used almost daily. Training in traumatic injuries, medical emergencies, or patient lifting and moving can all be evaluated. It can also help with basic day-to-day EMS operations of checking the truck and equipment.

"This is a better set-up because of the liability and the insurance cost of having an ambulance for training," Tracie Naylor-Griffin, ATC's program chair for paramedicine technology, said. "From a student safety issue standpoint, the simulator is stable. It's indoors, so we don't have to worry about the weather. We can use it year-'round across all of our classes, and it is functional just like an ambulance that you would call to your house."

People's lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent care of emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Incidents as varied as automobile accidents, heart attacks, slips and falls, childbirth, and gunshot wounds require immediate medical attention. EMTs and paramedics provide these vital services as they care for and transport the sick or injured to a medical facility.

In an emergency, EMTs and paramedics are typically dispatched by a 911 operator to the scene, where they often work with police and firefighters. Once they arrive, EMTs and paramedics assess the nature of a patient's condition, while trying to determine whether the patient has any pre-existing medical conditions. Following protocols and guidelines, they provide emergency care and transport the patient to a medical facility.

Across the nation, EMTs and paramedics held about 248,000 jobs in 2016. The median annual wage for EMTs and paramedics was $33,380 in May 2017. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,880, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $56,990.