| Paramedic’s Corner: PCAD begins EMT and paramedic training programs |
By: Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
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Posted: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 2:43 pm
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Ambulance Director Gary Carmack
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Staff members at the Pulaski County Ambulance District (PCAD) are very excited about several upcoming programs.
First of all, we started an EMT class on Nov. 9. The class will be taught by Paramedic Mike McCart and meets two evenings a week for 160 clock hours of training.
Later this week, on Nov. 12, Drury University is signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PCAD as an affiliation for our paramedic school. When the student graduates and passes the national registry/state examinations, the student will be eligible for 30 college hours from Drury University towards an emergency medical degree. The paramedic class starts Dec. 3 and meets one eight-hour day per week for 500 clock hours. The student is also required to attend 350 hours in hospital clinical rotations and a 400-hour ambulance field internship for a total of 1250 hours. The student is then eligible for national registry/state examinations to be a licensed paramedic. Requirements for paramedic school include being a licensed EMT, having a high school Diploma or GED, and passing criminal background checks. I will be teaching the paramedic school; the medical director for both of these programs is Dr. Barton Warren.
Getting started on community CPR programs has been a little slow. We had to renew several CPR instructors’ credentials and order a lot of new teaching materials. We are hoping to get citizen CPR going very soon, as this is one of the most important components in combating sudden cardiac death. When a person’s heart stops beating, if there is to be any hope of survival, CPR needs to be started within 4 to 6 minutes and there must be a call for emergency services to get a defibrillator there quickly. Sudden cardiac arrest is usually from ventricular fibrillation requiring early defibrillation.
Pulaski County Ambulance District paramedics responded 442 times to the sick or injured in October, bringing the yearly total of responses to date up to 4,362 patients. The highest call area in October was Waynesville-St. Robert with 302 patients, followed by Richland at 45 and Crocker with 33. PCAD personnel responded to Laquey 15 times, Rolla 18, and Fort Leonard Wood 9 times. The Rolla and Fort Leonard Wood responses were mostly transfers.
The hospitals most requested and transported to were St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon with 84 transports, Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla with 71, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital with 56, and Lake Regional Medical Center in Osage Beach at 12. The highest long-distance destination was St. John’s Hospital in Springfield with 12 responses.
Please feel welcome to stop by any of our ambulance bases for free blood pressure, glucose, and vital sign checks. If the team is out on a call, you might have to return or go to one of the other bases.
For more information on CPR, EMT, or paramedic classes call (573) 774-5413 or (573) 774-2807.
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