EMT Course A Practical Learning Experience
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Students from area high schools are getting a chance to get their feet wet in the medical field.
The EMT course lets students decide if they are interested in pursuing a career in being an EMT or nurse. The Warsaw Area Career Center offers the EMT program at Warsaw Community High School. Students attend the course from six area high schools, including Fairfield, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, Wawasee, West Noble and Whitko. Students that complete the course and pass the state exam for licensing can earn dual credit with Ivy Tech Community College.
The WACC partners with Multi-Township EMS for the instructors, while WACC supplies the facility and students.
Program Assistant for Career and Technical Education Diana Yarian said the EMS decides the criteria for the class.
"We do find the students who apply are real interested in it," she said.
She said there is an application process for students to get in the class, and their transcripts, attendance record and any discipline records are provided to the EMS. Each student must buy a textbook. Students must be honest and must be able to be confidential about the patients they work with while participating in the course. Each student receives training on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Yarian said the course has been offered for at least the last 10 years, but has only been a combined course with the Wawasee Career Center for the past five years.
"We're usually getting 20 to 25 students per class," she said. The course is 24 weeks long and students have to meet the minimum state requirements. The course is identical to the class offered to adults.
EMT Ed Ksiezopolski is teaching the course this year. During the course, he said, students will volunteer at Kosciusko Community Hospital and spend time riding on an ambulance.
"We practice with them over and over," he said. The high school seniors learn "everything," he said, from basic physiology and anatomy to taking care of people at nursing homes and dealing with accident victims. The students learn how to take vitals and how to take care of a fall victim.
"We got a good mix of kids," he said. "Very enthusiastic group."
This year there are about 21 students in Ksiezopolski's class. Students from past years have gone on to become policemen, nurses, Coast Guard medics and firemen, he said.
"I'm very proud of them all, actually," Ksiezopolski said.
Once they complete the course, the students will be state certified as an Indiana EMT, and go through state testing, both the practical and written.
"A lot of these people coming out of the class are job ready," Ksiezopolski said.
"This is an awesome class," said West Noble senior Mary Gross. "I really enjoy it. I've learned different things. (Ksiezopolski) makes things interesting."
The reasons the students took the course varies.
"Originally," said Warsaw senior Kevin Hoover of why he signed up, was "to be a First Responder on the Winona Lake Fire Department. Now, I do it because I love it."
Hoover said Ksiezopolski has him thinking about using the skills he is learning in the Coast Guard. "That's what I think I'm going to do," Hoover said.
Whitko senior A.J. McClanahan said he registered for the course "to help people, to be a paramedic. I've always wanted to be a paramedic in the Samaritan. It's something I've always liked."
He said he's learned "lots of stuff like how to put people on backboards, take blood pressure, stuff like that" in the class.
Breydon Allen, a Warsaw senior, already knows how he plans to use the skills he's learning in the class.
"I took it to help me with my firefighting. I'm going to be a firefighter," Allen said. The skills will help him as a firefighter in case an EMT is not on the scene right away, he said.
Allen's plans are to go to Indiana University, get a business degree and then get firefighting training "and hopefully a job."
For Allen, firefighting is in the family.
"My dad and brother are firefighters and I just want to help people, and not be in the office all day," he said.
"I wanted to be a paramedic," said Warsaw senior Leighanna Torres. Her cousin is a paramedic and she said she had the opportunity to ride along in the truck.
The class has helped her in school. Torres said once in P.E. class, a student was bleeding and she helped him out. She put on her gloves and took him to the training room where she helped him.
Another Warsaw senior, Melody Miller, thinks the medical field is her future, and the class is helping her decide for sure.
"I want to go into the medical field and maybe this would help me see what it's like and what I want to do in it," Miller said.
She was thinking about nursing, but she said the course is opening her eyes to other possibilities.
Regardless of what careers the students are thinking about, they all had the same reason as to why they took the course.
"I decided to take the EMT class because I wanted to help out the community and save people's lives," said Lindsay Dixon, Warsaw senior. [[In-content Ad]]
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Students from area high schools are getting a chance to get their feet wet in the medical field.
The EMT course lets students decide if they are interested in pursuing a career in being an EMT or nurse. The Warsaw Area Career Center offers the EMT program at Warsaw Community High School. Students attend the course from six area high schools, including Fairfield, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, Wawasee, West Noble and Whitko. Students that complete the course and pass the state exam for licensing can earn dual credit with Ivy Tech Community College.
The WACC partners with Multi-Township EMS for the instructors, while WACC supplies the facility and students.
Program Assistant for Career and Technical Education Diana Yarian said the EMS decides the criteria for the class.
"We do find the students who apply are real interested in it," she said.
She said there is an application process for students to get in the class, and their transcripts, attendance record and any discipline records are provided to the EMS. Each student must buy a textbook. Students must be honest and must be able to be confidential about the patients they work with while participating in the course. Each student receives training on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Yarian said the course has been offered for at least the last 10 years, but has only been a combined course with the Wawasee Career Center for the past five years.
"We're usually getting 20 to 25 students per class," she said. The course is 24 weeks long and students have to meet the minimum state requirements. The course is identical to the class offered to adults.
EMT Ed Ksiezopolski is teaching the course this year. During the course, he said, students will volunteer at Kosciusko Community Hospital and spend time riding on an ambulance.
"We practice with them over and over," he said. The high school seniors learn "everything," he said, from basic physiology and anatomy to taking care of people at nursing homes and dealing with accident victims. The students learn how to take vitals and how to take care of a fall victim.
"We got a good mix of kids," he said. "Very enthusiastic group."
This year there are about 21 students in Ksiezopolski's class. Students from past years have gone on to become policemen, nurses, Coast Guard medics and firemen, he said.
"I'm very proud of them all, actually," Ksiezopolski said.
Once they complete the course, the students will be state certified as an Indiana EMT, and go through state testing, both the practical and written.
"A lot of these people coming out of the class are job ready," Ksiezopolski said.
"This is an awesome class," said West Noble senior Mary Gross. "I really enjoy it. I've learned different things. (Ksiezopolski) makes things interesting."
The reasons the students took the course varies.
"Originally," said Warsaw senior Kevin Hoover of why he signed up, was "to be a First Responder on the Winona Lake Fire Department. Now, I do it because I love it."
Hoover said Ksiezopolski has him thinking about using the skills he is learning in the Coast Guard. "That's what I think I'm going to do," Hoover said.
Whitko senior A.J. McClanahan said he registered for the course "to help people, to be a paramedic. I've always wanted to be a paramedic in the Samaritan. It's something I've always liked."
He said he's learned "lots of stuff like how to put people on backboards, take blood pressure, stuff like that" in the class.
Breydon Allen, a Warsaw senior, already knows how he plans to use the skills he's learning in the class.
"I took it to help me with my firefighting. I'm going to be a firefighter," Allen said. The skills will help him as a firefighter in case an EMT is not on the scene right away, he said.
Allen's plans are to go to Indiana University, get a business degree and then get firefighting training "and hopefully a job."
For Allen, firefighting is in the family.
"My dad and brother are firefighters and I just want to help people, and not be in the office all day," he said.
"I wanted to be a paramedic," said Warsaw senior Leighanna Torres. Her cousin is a paramedic and she said she had the opportunity to ride along in the truck.
The class has helped her in school. Torres said once in P.E. class, a student was bleeding and she helped him out. She put on her gloves and took him to the training room where she helped him.
Another Warsaw senior, Melody Miller, thinks the medical field is her future, and the class is helping her decide for sure.
"I want to go into the medical field and maybe this would help me see what it's like and what I want to do in it," Miller said.
She was thinking about nursing, but she said the course is opening her eyes to other possibilities.
Regardless of what careers the students are thinking about, they all had the same reason as to why they took the course.
"I decided to take the EMT class because I wanted to help out the community and save people's lives," said Lindsay Dixon, Warsaw senior. [[In-content Ad]]