EMT Course at Borger High School fills gap in Hutchinson County
BORGER, Texas (KVII) — A collaboration between Borger High School and the Golden Plains Community Hospital is aiming to fill a void of qualified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) in Hutchinson County. In the fall of 2016, Borger High School started an EMT training course to help students who have an interest in becoming a first responder.
“I got in because it’s a great opportunity in high school to keep you going through high school,” said Chassity Gillian, a senior at Borger High School “This course is going to give you experience needed before you jump into the real college world.”
“I know that it would bring a lot of opportunities to me,” said Isabelle Heredia, a senior at Borger High School “It will bring opportunities to me, the community as well as helping everybody.”
The second class has five times the number of students. Ten students comprise year-two of the course which had three students in year one. School officials tell ABC 7 News the course can help solve a problem that has plagued the county for a couple of years.
“We do have a shortfall of qualified EMT’s here in the county,” said Matt Ammerman, principal at Borger High School “Were doing this through a partnership with local health organizations to provide students from Hutchinson County to work at Golden Plains Community Hospital.”
“These students are learning basic patient care so they can respond to trauma situations out in the community,” said Kathryn Sims, a health science instructor at Borger High School. “The students learn about vital signs, putting patients on backboards, proper lifting techniques, etc.”
Students must earn their EKG certification in the first semester before they can advance to hours in the ER and in the ambulance.
“You just don’t learn one thing in the EMT field, you learn various things,” said Gillian. “That’s because you’re going to be working on various people.”
Each student has a story as to why they’re in the health science class. What motivates the students helps them get closer to responding to an emergency.
“My grandfather had recently died and was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago,” said Andres Sondevilla, a senior at Borger High School “It motivated me to get into the medical field and learn about how to take care of someone.”
Students who complete the course and pass a state exam are certified in EMT basics and can begin answering the calls for help. This past week, nine students interviewed with Golden Plains Community Hospital and three are earning scholarships for college on the condition they work for the hospital for an allotted time.
