EMT training helps in all walks of life

WORLAND – A lot of people think that when they take EMT (emergency medical technician) basic training like Washakie County Ambulance Service is offering this fall, that it will only help them if they are interested in the medical profession. What they don't know is that there are many careers in the world where EMT basic training is a stepping stone to career advancement.

Washakie County Ambulance Service Director Luke Sypherd stated that EMT basic training is a great stepping stone for not only careers and advancement in the medical field but also in a variety of other professions. "If people want to be career firefighters; career firefighters now are pretty much paramedics or have EMT basics. If you want to do wildland fire, they are always needing medical personnel on wildland fires. If you want to become a flight medic, you start as an EMT basic. If you want to do military, your EMT is always helpful. Law enforcement, if you can invest the time before you get into that, why would you not want that? Almost all the time law enforcement can beat us to the scene. If you want to do Park Service, Forest Service, Game and Fish, anything outdoorsy."

"There is a need for EMTs everywhere, no matter where you go. So if you go to college and want a part time job as an EMT, you can find one. It's not like some vague thing that is only used in certain areas, EMTs are used everywhere. It's the gateway to EMS (Emergency

Medical Service), it's the best place to start," Sypherd added.

The class offered by Washakie County Ambulance Service runs from September through January 2019 with classes every Monday and Thursday evening from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. with a few Saturday classes. The total amount of classroom training required is 200 hours, Sypherd said. He stated that at first the classes will be in the Public Health building in Worland but depending on how many people from Worland and Ten Sleep attend, the classes may be divided between the two towns. He also said that the time of the class could change if the students agree that an earlier time; say 6 p.m. would be easier.

On top of the 200 classroom hours, there is also a time of clinical training which will happen in the emergency room of Banner Health Washakie Medical Center. "When I was in EMT basic we did everything from cleaning the beds to doing a patient assessment and vital signs and just assisting the nurses. You basically learn what happens once you take that patient to the ER [emergency room] and that's really important because EMS is not a separate program or organization or profession than other health care. EMS is a continuum of the health care system, the only difference is we do it outside the hospital. If we were not to understand anything the hospital did, we would show up, give them the patient and expect who knows what. The same thing is important for ER personnel to understand what happens outside the hospital, so when they receive the patient, they know what to expect," Sypherd explained.

Sypherd explained that EMT basic level is the foundation for all emergency services. "That's where you learn how to do patient assessments, whether it's a medical or trauma assessment, because you approach them in slightly different manners. On a trauma assessment you are looking and feeling more than asking lots of questions. Of course you are asking lots of questions, but on a medical assessment you are not going to be looking and feeling quite as much because you already suspect it to be medical. Like we get a call to a diabetic patient and they are sitting in their chair and you don't see anything like blood or anything when you walk up, you are going to assume that it is a medical call and that will start you on a path of assessment," Sypherd said.

"Basic is learning how to do medical and trauma assessments, how to do vital signs and the complete array of vital signs, everything from a blood pressure to attaching an EKG (electrocardiogram), they don't read or interoperate EKGs but they can attach them. Blood glucose, they do a wide range of vital signs, they can do things like splinting and bandaging, they can give certain medications, it's a very limited number, they can give aspirin, if the patient has nitro they can give them their nitro, it's called self-assist medications, epinephrine and the state is changing the rules there so they can give an injection rather than the auto injector, which is a lot cheaper for us, so that's good. They can drive the ambulance, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), BVM (bag valve mask) that's when you can give someone air without having to do mouth-to-mouth. They do this huge scope and a great basic start, after the basic you get more detailed assessments, but it all goes off of that base. An advanced [EMT] can do a few more medications, the can do an IV (intravenous therapy), they can do some additional air ways. So they have this very great base to start with. It's honestly what you use the most, I'm a paramedic but my basic skills are what every single call starts with," he added.

Washakie County Ambulance Service does much more than just on scene calls for help. They do stand-bys for events such as rodeos and sports, transfers from hospital to hospital and transfers from the hospital to the airport for life flights. "The unique thing is where the helicopter gets a lot of credit, when the helicopter can't take the patient, we take them. The weather gets bad or it's too icy and they can't fly, patients have to go in our ambulance. While the air gets a lot of credit and they do a great job; really we are the first line of defense and the last line when it comes to emergency medical care," Sypherd said.

Sypherd stated that a lot of people are unsure about becoming an EMT due to concerns of liability. "The state of Wyoming has special protections for EMTs who are volunteers under the Good Samaritan law. People who are volunteers or make a small amount annually in stipend are exempt from civil damages. Basically, the Good Samaritan laws says if you are trying to do what's right as a reasonable person would do then you are covered. Now if you go, I don't know if you've ever seen the Office, the one episode that I saw is where they are doing office CPR training and one of the guys gets crazy and says, 'No, this is what you need to do.' And takes a knife and opens up the mannequin and pretends to massage the mannequin's heart, something like that is not reasonable. But if you showed up and did what was reasonable and to the best of your knowledge and training, you're good. The state of Wyoming has done a great job in protecting our EMTs by stating that if you are trying to do what is right, we will cover you," Sypherd explained.

EMTs who give up their time to serve the community are special people Sypherd said. "The people who are doing this job, really aren't doing it for the money. It's a public service job, so the people who show up are there because they want to be. We have people who give up a lot of their life; personal time, vacation time to take care of the citizens of this community. We have no idea what it's going to be, it's not every single day you are busy, it's not every single hour. You may have calls during the day one week and then all at night the next week. We run over 1,000 calls a year which the vast majority of agencies who run over 1,000 calls a year are full time, we are volunteer," Sypherd said.

"There is something very unique and special about having volunteers or people living in the community serve the community. I have worked in big cities on opposite ends of the country and the heart that comes from our EMTs makes a big difference in how patients are treated, not only the level of care they receive but the quality of care. Just because you have a paramedic on scene, doesn't mean that that's the best care you can get. When you have people who are your neighbors, your friends, loved ones, you've grown up with them, you know their mom, their dad, their children, our people are going to do everything they can to make sure that you are taken care of because they are vested in you and in the community, versus somebody who does this just as their job and has no investment in the community. We have people who give up amazing amounts of time. We have EMTs who run six days per week, there are some weeks where they run seven days per week, some three days 24/7. Christmas, Thanksgiving Fourth of July, these volunteers are giving up their family time and vacations to be available to help out if needed," He added.

Sypherd stated that he is not expecting people to invest a huge amount of time with the organization. He stated that many hands make light work. His aim is to have enough trained EMTs to lighten the load on everyone. "Right now we have a select handful who are running over and over and over again. Our goal is to have many hands and say I can take two six hour shifts per week or maybe I can only take one this week but I can take four next week," he said.

Sypherd also said that eventually he would like to work with the school district to add an EMT basic training for seniors. The only reason just seniors is that to be a licensed EMT you have to be 18.

Anyone interested in attending the EMT basic training needs to call 347-9191.