By Staff
Southwestern Michigan College students studying to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) or paramedics will have the real life experience of working within the confines of an ambulance thanks to a donation from LifeCare Ambulance Service.
Recently, an ambulance valued at $5,000 was donated to the college's School of Nursing and Human Services from the Battle Creek-based ambulance service with a local station in Cassopolis.
The ambulance was retired from service because of mileage, but will be an excellent training tool, according to Scott Brandenburg, operations supervisor with LifeCare.
"This will be a great benefit for students," said Brandenburg. "The ambulance will give students the opportunity to work inside an actual ambulance. In the long run, students will become better trained for emergency situations."
The ambulance will be used in SMC's EMT and paramedic programs.
EMT students are trained in basic life support and can advance their employment opportunities by earning a one-year specialty certificate.
SMC also offers an associate degree in applied science to students who want to become licensed paramedics.
Employment opportunities for paramedics include private ambulance services and police and fire departments.
Students will have the chance to work in the close quarters of an ambulance and experience the loading and unloading of patients, said Elaine Foster, dean of academic studies and the School of Nursing and Human Services.
"This will provide our students as close as we can get with real life training," Foster said. "We'll start using the ambulance immediately and then completely integrate the ambulance into our curriculum in the fall."
Foster said through a $2 million grant through Michigan Works, SMC will be able to rig the ambulance with cameras to record the students' reaction during emergency situations.
In addition, the college's SimMan, a computerized mannequin designed to simulate actual medical conditions, can be used as a patient.
"We'll be able to create real life scenarios so students can be trained and evaluated using this technology," Foster said. "Students would also be able to watch themselves afterwards to see what they did. That's the beauty of a simulation. Students can do it and redo it. With real bodies you don't get to redo it again."
SMC's nursing students will also have the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in the back of an ambulance, Foster said.
This will give nursing students a chance to understand what paramedics go through. Foster said SMC may be the first college in the area that has an ambulance on site to use as a training tool.
"It's important to allow students to have access to quality programming with in the health care field," Foster said. "It's the quality that is of utmost importance because it could be you, your baby or your mother that needs the care. This is simply another way that we are continually increasing the quality of health care training in our programs."