Nineteen high school seniors are on their way to becoming certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) thanks to a new dual credit program at Lone Star College-Montgomery. Once they pass the National Registry of EMT exam these students will be able to work on an ambulance or in an emergency room and many other places in our community, state, even nationwide.
Koby Wistner became interested in emergency medicine after he was the patient his freshman year at College Park High School.
“I suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm,” said Wistner. “That illness got me interested in the medical field. I want to be able to do the same thing the EMTs did for me, help save someone else’s life.”
The students took a three-hour course this past fall focusing on professionalism, basic CPR and first aid. This spring they took the full EMT course, including clinical labs. They will be tested on all of the skills and once they pass the final exam they will be able to take the National Registry of EMT exam.
“The pilot dual credit program has been exceptionally successful,” said Dr. Kelly Weller, emergency medical services program director at LSC-Montgomery. “We have taught these students everything they need to know to deal with someone who is having the worst day of their life.”
Ben Alexander attends College Park High School and likes to practice medical assessments.
“When you arrive at a scene and find a patient, there could be many different things wrong with him or her and you have to narrow it down to what is specifically wrong at that time,” said Alexander.
Brandon Mendez attends Willis High School and enjoys a specific type of splinting.
“I have done traction splinting and it is my favorite skill to practice,” said Mendez. “It is not seen so much because the injury has to be an isolated, closed, mid-shaft femur fracture and you do not see that very often.”
“An EMT has to learn how to treat literally every medical and traumatic condition a person can encounter under some of the worst conditions imaginable,” said Dr. Weller. “The curriculum is set at the national level, so Texas students even have to learn what to do for frostbite.”
This inaugural class is going on to do great things.
The Woodlands High School student, Faith Eberwein, will study nursing at Florida Gulf Coast University. Tommy MacDougall, also a Woodlands High School student, is going to the Fire Academy at LSC-Montgomery. Oak Ridge High School student, Nicole Gomez, is going to Texas A&M for premed and nursing. Ben Alexander, senior at College Park High School, begins paramedic school close to home at LSC-Montgomery this summer and Mendez plans on enlisting in the Marine Corps.
“I want to serve my country,” said Mendez. “Having this type of knowledge can be useful in very stressful combat situations. I could have a friend down and I want to be able to have this life-saving knowledge prior to going to basic training.”
For more information on the dual credit program at LSC-Montgomery visit www.lonestar.edu/dualcredit
Lone Star College offers high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education to 95,000 students each semester. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area with an annual economic impact of $3.1 billion. LSC consists of six colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.