A new collaboration aims to produce the next generation of first responders
By Mimi Vanderhaven
In response to a growing need for more first responders in our community, the new Mentor Fire EMT Academy was founded this year as an impressive collaboration between the City of Mentor Fire Department and the Lake Shore Compact Career Tech.
Open to high school seniors, the one-year program helps them explore a number of health and safety careers and prepares them to perform entry-level emergency medical care.
Students use medical and diagnostic equipment to perform detailed medical and trauma patient assessments.
According to EMT Academy instructor Jerry Craddock, “We do book work, lab activities, testing, and then we do a lot of hands-on patient care under emergency-type situations.”
The ultimate goal is to prepare the students to take a national registry test to become an emergency medical technician.
Material covered through the coursework includes basic lifesaving skills such as CPR, AED, intubation and pharmacology.
Students attend class at the Mentor Fire Department from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each school day throughout the school year and they earn three credits toward graduation. They return to their home schools for academics. Currently, there are students from Mentor, Euclid, Wickliffe and Riverside High School in the program.
“The Academy provides a good foundational course for someone who wants to go into the medical field whether it be in respiratory therapy, working in an ER, as a nurse, a flight nurse, or a flight medic, as a fire department worker, or working for an ambulance company,” says Jerry. “This is definitely a great springboard for a career.”
The students engage in meaningful interactions beyond book instruction and gain real-life understanding of first-responder situations from a behind-the-scenes perspective. For instance, they listen to—and learn from—actual 911 calls from dispatchers.
The Mentor School system educates 7,400 students from pre-K to 12th grade in seven elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school and one school for students with autism.