Several West Central students will be getting an up close and personal look at the inner workings of the Pulaski County EMS as they start job shadowing EMTs beginning next semester. At least ten students from the West Central Health Occupations class will begin shadowing at the EMS Department in January.
EMS Director Nikki Lowry explained that this is the second time since she became director in June 2011 that the Health Occupations class has shadowed EMTs, for a good reason: she said it exposes them to the reality of what EMTs do on a daily basis.
“The students will be exposed to the career aspect of the EMS service. It’s not all fun and games like it’s portrayed on TV, so we’re going to give them a realistic view here and if they choose to do that, then they’ve got a good background and they know what they’re getting into,” Lowry explained.
Lowry said there are 22 students in the Health Occupations class and a decent portion of them will be job shadowing not just the EMS Department, but the hospital and possibly some veterinary offices as well. Students will spend a couple hours per day observing EMTs twice a week from January through May.
Lowry explained the students will get to learn about the ambulance crews, the responsibilities of EMTs, how to perform daily operational checks of the equipment, and all necessary paperwork to give the students an idea of what they would be getting into if they chose this career field.
