Blinn College Emergency Medical Services (EMS) students are trained to handle the unexpected. This weekend, they put their emergency preparedness skills to the test when they were asked to respond to the simulated aftermath of a hurricane.
Sixteen EMS students teamed with the Waco-based Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF), the Texas Army National Guard, the U.S. Air Force and Austin-Travis County EMS for a two-day simulated mass casualty event.
Students triaged 45 patients, all National Guard volunteers, in a mobile medical unit set up in the parking lot of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. The volunteer patients acted out various ailments and applied โmoulage,โ make-up mimicking their injuries, while the EMS students worked together to provide the best possible care.
โThey did a phenomenal job triaging patients,โ said Kimberly Decker, emergency medical technician instructor. โSituations like this are chaotic. They did a great job working together to strategically organize the unit and ensure everyone was taken care of.โ
The students worked inside Austin-Travis County EMSโs โAmbuBus,โ a large bus with 15 hospital-style beds in place of basic seating. They also toured an evacuation aircraft brought in by the U.S. Air Force for the exercise.
โIt was a great experience for the students to familiarize themselves with new equipment and to network with agencies they might work alongside in a disaster scenario,โ Decker said. โDiscussing concepts in the classroom is totally different than getting your hands dirty. Weโre very thankful for the work of our partners that provided this true-to-life scenario for our students. Theyโre going to be better EMS personnel because of it. โ
Blinnโs EMS program provides students with the classroom and hands-on clinical experience they need to become eligible for certification or licensure at the emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic levels.
Paramedic courses include basic and clinical emergency medical technician, clinical emergency medical services, trauma management, cardiology, medical emergencies and EMS operations. Students also complete the Paramedic Academy, a three-semester program that prepares them for certification or licensure by the National Registry of EMTs and the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Paramedics are in high demand in Texas, with an average of 2,800 job openings each year. EMTs can expect to earn a starting salary of $26,000 to $39,000 and paramedics can earn $34,000 to $5,000, annually.
Registration is currently available for Blinnโs May Minimester, Summer and Fall semesters. For registration and financial aid information, visit www.blinn.edu.
