On Wednesday evening, our newest EMT Candidates began the first of six internal classes to prepare them for a state EMT Basic course. When new or existing members start the process of becoming a New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technician, we start them off with internal training not only to put them ahead of the curve, but also to give them a taste of what it's like to be an EMT and to get them comfortable with the rhythm and pace of the state course.

The first class introduced our EMT Candidates to their responsibilities within our department, our standard operating guidelines and procedures, the skills course structure, the foundation of the emergency medical care system in the United States, and the importance of the wellbeing of the EMT.

While our bi-weekly skills classes are oftentimes geared towards our newer EMTs and Candidates, others members who are either in state classes, or are working on their state certification are also encouraged to attend to brush up on or learn new skills. Foreman Eleanor Hersam took a smaller group of members through writing paper Prehospital Care Reports, also known as PCRs, as a precursor to learning our ePCR system. This smaller group also learned about our apparatus-mounted laptops, how to access the ePCR system, and began writing demo ePCRs.

At the end of our EMT Skills classes, we always work on one aspect of patient assessment. Given that most of our students were attending for their first time, we started with the basics - vitals. Each student learned about why we take vitals, what a complete set of vitals consists of, how to use that information, and finally how to use our equipment to take a complete set on their partner. EMTs and Candidates alike will continue to practice good assessment and vitals-taking skills throughout our classes and for the rest of their careers as clinicians in the field.

If you are interested in becoming a member at the Vista Volunteer Fire Department please click the "Become a Member" tab at VistaFD.org!