Whether you hope to work alongside fire department staff or would like to know what to do if ever faced with an emergency, residents of Cordell and surrounding areas will soon get the opportunity to learn the skills needed.
Beginning July 27 the Cordell Fire Department will be hosting an Emergency Medical Responder class open to anyone interested.
The class is put on by Heartland Medical Direction and is offered across the state. It will be televised to training fa cilities.
The course will see instructors from Oklahoma fire departments such as Cordell, Guthrie, and Lawton teaching different sections of the course.
Here in Cordell, fire chief and interim emergency medical services director Seth Slaughterback will be the onsite instructor for the class offered at the Cordell Fire Department.
Slaughterback said that the class could be valuable to any resident who might be interested and that the expertise learned during the course could help save a life.
“Even if they don’t plan on working on an ambulance, it’s still a good educa tion,” Slaughterback said.
Those who attend the course will have the opportunity to learn about CPR, prevent further injury to patients who may suffer from a broken bone or spinal injury, how to look for signs and symptoms of complications, how to deal with some medical supplies on an ambulance, how to properly assist an emergency medical technician, and more.
The class, while mostly lecture-based, has two dedicated skill days for primarily hands-on learning. On those two days, attendants will learn skills such as being able to lift properly in order to not injure yourself or a patient, how to properly package a patient to a backboard, supplying air to a patient properly, checking blood sugar and blood pressures, and others.
Upon completion of the class, attendants (who have not been previously convicted of a felony) will become a licensed EMR so long as they are over the age of 18 and have a valid driver’s license.
“Usually your larger ambulance services do not hire them. They look for EMT basics, emergency medical technicians. EMRs in your smaller services, usually we’ll hire them,” Slaughterback said.
The class will run from July until September in the evenings, and the official class dates are listed as follows:
Lectures
July 27 | Chapter 1 and 2 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
July 29 | Chapter 3 and 4 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 03 | Chapter 5 and 6 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 05 | Chapter 7 and 8 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 10 | Chapter 9 and 10 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 12 | Chapter 11 and 12 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 17 | Chapter 13 and 14 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 19 | Chapter 15 and 16 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 24 | Chapter 17 and 18 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 26 | Chapter 19, 20, and 21 | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Aug 31 | Review | 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Sept 02 | Final and Skills | 4 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Sept 07 | Follow Up Skills Test | 4 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Skills
July 31 | Lifting and moving | 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Aug 21 | Assessments/OB | 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
A $250 deposit is required which will cover the required textbook and online class account. Slaughterback said that having a laptop or tablet with you will be beneficial in logging into the account.
Going forward, there are plans to set up an emergency medical technician class where you learn total patient care such as dealing with medical assessments and trauma assessments thus allowing you to work in the back of an ambulance should you want to pursue that.
The EMT class is suspected to take place next year beginning the last week of January. Slaughterback also mentioned wanting to do an advanced EMT course following the EMT course.
For those interested in taking the class, you will have until July 26 to sign up and can contact the Cordell Fire Department at 580-832-3449 with any questions or to get signed up.