New Emergency Medical Services class gives students a head start in emergency care.
Emilia Allison-Biber and Tannistha Baral
Albany High School added four sections of a new Emergency Medical Services class this year, available to grades 10 and above. Students in this class will receive certifications such as Electrocardiogram (EKG), Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), First Aid, and Stop the Bleed over the course of two to three years.
The instructor for this class, Bridget Miller, says students will learn “anatomy and physiology, and how to treat medical conditions.” They will also cover “the language and medical terminology, which is not super easy to learn, but we were learning to break it down.”
The class prepares students for careers in the medical field and creates job opportunities for students once they graduate. Senior Adonias Solomon says, “We’re going to have a lot of connections and internships with people, like doctors, firefighters, and nurses.”
Miller says, “For a lot of things in the healthcare field, you don’t necessarily have to have a degree. You have to have a knowledge-based certification and the experience to back it. So my students get an EMT certification, so when they leave here, they can work in an emergency room, they can work in the CVICU, they can work in any ICU, and they can travel as an EMT.”
Because the EMS program is a two to three year course, there are many seniors who are only able to take the first year of this program.
Senior Diya Bashyal responded to this by saying, “That threw me off, and I wish I did have the option to do it sophomore year because I 100% would have. And obviously I’m not getting all the benefits I would get if I did it for three years, but honestly, I feel like they’re making bigger changes. Seniors also have more opportunities for internships; they get first priority. It’s like they’re making up for it, but I wish I was able to take it before.”
Miller explains what drives her to teach, and how she connects to her students through the course; she says, “I’m like, how can I help my 17-year-old peers? You know, to help them do the course. That’s what I think makes me a little bit different than a lot of other teachers is that I’ve done this track, so I know that it works. And I think that’s really what made me want to be a teacher.”
