The United States is facing a shortage of trained paramedics and EMT’s. That issue is especially pronounced in rural areas like South Dakota. Western Dakota Tech is working to solve that problem by bringing paramedic students and high schoolers together for a hands-on experience of the profession.
Western Dakota Tech’s Law and Public Safety Camp helps students gauge their interest in a variety of fields through simulations. Current students in the paramedic program use CPR dummies and other equipment to demonstrate some emergency response techniques for the high schoolers.
John Michaud is in his first semester of the paramedic program. He says teaching high school students is valuable because it helps him solidify his own knowledge.
“You can’t be using ten-dollar words and vocab terms they’re not gonna understand. You have to break it down, so you have to understand it at that level," says Michaud.
After going over basics in the classroom, the students move outside to a simulated car crash. They gather around a dummy on the ground with a severe head injury and blood dripping from its leg. A simulation technician uses a speaker to act as the victim.
Western Dakota Tech students and faculty walk through ways to treat the victim before an ambulance arrives. Dr. Mike Elston is a former EMT and the on-sight physician for the paramedic program. He says camps like this are critical for piquing student interest in the field early on--and high schoolers don’t have to wait for graduation to get started.
“Here at Western Dakota Tech we do offer a dual enrollment process where they can actually take it during high school. They can take their EMT training during high school and get college credit and high school credit for that," he explains.
The camp is free for high schoolers. Students can sign up for future simulation camps through the Western Dakota Tech website.