A school day for an EMT student looks similar to sitting in a classroom for three periods long in EMT instructor Ken Alling’s class learning all things medical-related. They are subjected to experiences to prepare them for real life medical situations.
This semester brings students more of a hands-on experience with events such as taking a field trip down to a cadaver lab, riding in the back of an ambulance at the Fishers Fire Department, participating in the HOSA Future Health Professionals program and taking trips to clinicals at local hospitals . Clinicals began at the start of the second semester where they travel during off-school hours to hospitals such as the St. Vincent’s Hospital in Hamilton Town Center and the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis. At the St. Vincent’s Hospital and Eskenazi Hospital, EMT students have the practice taking patient’s vital signs by checking heart rate, blood pressure and temperature, observing child births and witnessing electrocardiographies, which asesses a patient’s heart rhythm.
“At Eskenazi Hospital, I saw a patient suffering a gunshot wound, which looked pretty scary to me but it’s something that I will have to get used to,” senior Chandler Pallikan said. “Because clinicals allow me to see actual patients with actual injuries, it really is a good way for me to get my foot through the door since I will be experiencing similar situations in the future.”
Pallikan plans on working as an EMT during the summertime after graduation in June. During his first clinical at the Eskenazi Hospital, he and EMT student senior Carson Casebolt both traveled to the Eskenazi Hospital together on Wed, Jan. 17 to job shadow and get their hospital hours in for class.
Students are able to earn their EMT certification if they pass the National Registry EMT Test. Although clincals are not a requirement for all EMT students, they are a way for EMT students to pass the high school course. The requirements include having at least eight hours shadowing in an ambulance and 12 hours working on clinicals in hospitals with 30 patient contacts.
“The EMT program at our school gives me a different perspective on life and I realize I am very lucky for my health,” Pallikan said. “The hands-on experiences that I am receiving through my clinicals are going to impact my future as a firefighter.”
