Sierra Hubbard, News Editor
Grady Emergency Medical Service recently opened a new training and education facility on Marietta Boulevard that offers CPR classes as well as a compacted summer program for college students to get their EMT license.
According to Jeffrey Asher, manager for Education and Training at Grady EMS, the company is trying to branch further out into the public and make an effort to be proactive to health emergencies as opposed to reactive. Besides handling additional training requirements for existing employees, the new facility also offers CPR classes.
“Everyone here is a CPR instructor,” Asher said.
The concept is to create a community with more residents who are prepared to help those in need. Asher pointed to many cases of cardiac arrest when the ambulance arrives on the scene.
“If someone has [already] been doing CPR, we tend to have better outcomes, better survival, and people have a better quality of life from that episode.”
The CPR classes and employee training are not all this facility has to offer, though. Beginning in the summer of 2015, a compacted course will be available that is geared toward college students.
“The class that we’re doing in the summer would be the Emergency Medical Technician class,” said Asher. “It would be the actual state- and nationally-recognized EMT licensure class that normally takes about 20 weeks.”
Asher explained that the use of new technology and online coursework helps to condense the content down into a much shorter time period to fit in between the spring and fall semesters.
“Someone who was interested in doing this can, as a college student, go during their summer off,” he said. “They could come here, they would go to class three days a week, and eight weeks later they would be done and they would have their EMT license.”
Dr. Monica Nandan, interim dean of the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services, agrees that a course like this could help students interested in a medical profession.
“Additional training over [and] beyond the baccalaureate does not hurt,” Nandan said.
“On the contrary, our graduates, with this training, may have an edge over somebody who only goes for baccalaureate training with no EMT training.”
There are many benefits to offering this program, and the positive impact affects more than just the participant.
“It gets more trained responders out there in the community,” Asher said, again encouraging a proactive and preventive attitude toward medical emergencies. He sees the program as a win-win for everyone involved.
“It helps us as an organization reach our mission, it helps the student, and it also helps the ambulance service…in getting good employees.”
Nursing major and sophomore Kelsey Brook believes this path is perfect for those who truly want to lend a hand to those in their community.
“The program could be very beneficial for those who want to get to work helping others before waiting until the end of a two- to four-year academic career to do so,” Brook said. She also pointed out the advantages of being an EMT while in school.
“I have known a couple of people who chose to go the EMT route while working towards their nursing/medical degrees,” she said. “It helps accustom you to some of the pressing and intense situations that may arise down the road.”
For more information, visit their website at www.grady-ems.org. To apply or to inquire about tuition, fees, and pricing for classes, interested parties may contact Takiesha Bankston in the registrar’s office at 404-616-7414 or via email at tgbankston@gmh.edu.
