From left Lindsey Nelson and Terry Musselman of Chippewa Falls, and Sam Kuehn and Charles Flaskrud of Fall Creek.
EMT ACADEMIES PREPARE YOUNG STUDENTS FOR MEDICAL CAREERS CVTC brings Basic EMT class to area high school students
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any college students pick up part-time work wherever they can, and most of the time it’s not very exciting. River Falls High School senior Ian Keller has a different plan. “I plan to work as an EMT in college,” Keller said. “It’s a great way to give back to the community.” Keller is working toward an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) license through a class at Chippewa Valley Technical College’s River Falls Campus. He is one of 17 seniors from River Falls, Hudson, Ellsworth and Prescott high schools in the class. CVTC’s Eau Claire Campus hosts the class for 19 high school seniors from Chippewa Falls, Bloomer, Eau Claire and Fall Creek high schools. “When they finish they will be able to get a state license as a basic EMT, and they can take the national EMT registry exam,” said instructor Kassondra Mero. The class was made possible by a $111,000 Wisconsin Fast Forward Blueprint for Prosperity High School Pupil Workforce Training Programs grant. It is part of a larger statewide effort to engage high school students in collegelevel classes to increase their college success rate and to provide them with industry-recognized certificates that increase their employment prospects. “By becoming licensed EMTs, they will be eligible to be hired for jobs that pay $35,000 a year,” Mero said. Students in Mero’s class, though, are thinking bigger and longer term. “All of the students in the class have expressed an interest in careers in healthcare,” Mero said. “They have an
understanding of how this is going to impact their careers. This puts them leaps and bounds ahead of others because they will be able to get real-life experience at the age of 18.” “I want to go into the Air Force and perhaps work as an EMT,” said Terry Musselman of Chippewa Falls. “I decided to take the class as a career exploration,” said Fall Creek senior Sam Kuehn. “Even if I don’t become an EMT, I will have knowledge that can serve me all my life.” The class provides credit toward a student’s high school graduation and also five credits at CVTC.
> Find out more at cvtc.edu/EMT
From left, Jack Knoke of Hudson, Tayler Garza of Prescott and Colin Rude of River Falls.
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Chippewa Valley Technical College | Spring 2017