An online course will be offered to area emergency medical technicians from mid-January to May 1 through Camden Public Safety Training.
“This course will provide emergency medical training to the EMT level,” Camden Public Safety Training Coordinator Nicholas Khan said. “The class will teach students the basic areas of emergency procedures.”
Emergency medical technicians respond to medical emergencies and perform lifesaving techniques until a patient can be transported to a hospital or treatment facility. They are clinicians who are trained to respond quickly to medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident scenes.
“This class offers a lot of resources for the students that haven’t been offered in this area that I know of,” Khan said. “It will be a challenging and rewarding experience.”
Most of the class material will be covered online. Once a month, students will have to attend a two- to three-day hands-on session in Camden County, which is south of Brunswick. This is when they will complete their practical and hands-on tests. As the course progresses, students will complete their clinical and go on ride-alongs with Camden County fire and rescue personnel.
“Students will go on 911 calls and have patient contact during clinicals,” Khan said.
EMT students will be trained to assess a patient's condition and to perform emergency medical procedures as needed to maintain respiration and cardiovascular circulation until the patient can be transferred to a facility for advanced medical care or advanced life support arrives at the scene, according to Khan.
“This class has about 250-500 didactic hours, not including clinical time,” he added. “Students will have access to an instructor at any time with unlimited clinical time at their request.”
Students also will learn how to immobilize a patient to prevent spinal damage, how to splint bone fractures and basic life-support techniques. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification is not required for enrollment.
“If a student isn’t CPR-certified, they can complete that certification before the class ends, but they will have to attend an extra class,” Khan said.
After completing the class, students will be eligible to sit for the national registry written and practical exam, which can be taken in Savannah or Jacksonville.
When a student passes the national registry, they usually work in ambulances at hospitals. Liberty Regional Emergency Medical Services operates a fleet of eight units with paramedics and EMTs 24 hours a day, according to the Liberty Regional website. Ambulances are stationed at four locations throughout Liberty and Long counties and are equipped with life-support equipment.
After the EMT course, students can complete the advanced EMT course, also offered by Camden Public Safety Training.
“Advance EMTs can do a lot more, like give medications and start IVs,” Khan said.
After becoming an advanced EMT, students can continue their training to become paramedics.
“Becoming a paramedic is the most advance you can get in the pre-hospital setting,” Khan said. “This is a 14-month program, and we don’t offer it.”
Camden Public Safety Training offers the three-month EMT and four- to six-month advance EMT courses.
Registration for the upcoming EMT online course ends mid-January, and the course costs $910. This includes the course fees and book.