Saratoga County EMT Career Pathway pilot program kicks off at Shenendehowa HS<\/h3>\n
Melissa Schuman \/ The Saratogian & The Troy Record \/ May 5, 2022<\/p>\n
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. \u2014 A collaboration between the town of Clifton Park, Clifton Park-Halfmoon EMS, Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC), Shenendehowa High School (Shen), and Career Jam has come to fruition with the kickoff of a Career Pathway pilot program. Eligible students can complete training to become state-certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and earn college credits, all at no cost.<\/p>\n
The EMT Career Pathway pilot program is open to Shen students who are 17 and older taking the school\u2019s Healthcare Career Courses, or are interested in becoming an EMT. Qualified students will be enrolled at HVCC and will have earned seven college credits when the program is complete. Training will take place over the summer so as not to interfere with regular schoolwork, starting on June 27 at HVCC\u2019s TEC-SMART campus in Malta. Required observation hours will be done in coordination with the Clifton Park-Halfmoon EMS. The program will complete on Sept. 8 and the state certification exam will take place two weeks later. Students must be 18 at the time of the exam to be allowed to test.<\/p>\n
The EMT Career Pathway will not cost anything for participating students. All materials and support services will be paid for by the Saratoga County Department of Employment and Training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to support the whole program, so we\u2019re taking care of all books and supplies,\u201d explained department Director Jen McCloskey. \u201cIf a student has a problem with transportation, we can help remove that barrier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan Chin, who teaches the Healthcare Career Courses at Shen, says he hopes that many of his current 120 or so students will see the EMT Career Pathway as a good next step from the classes they\u2019re currently enrolled in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a shortage of healthcare workers right now,\u201d Chin commented. \u201cHopefully we can get more people into those fields with this program.\u201d<\/p>\n
At a kickoff celebration at Shen on Thursday morning attended by EMS employees and Shen students and staff, Clifton Park Town Supervisor Phil Barrett praised the many organizations that had worked together to make the pilot program possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank all our partners for all their hard work,\u201d Barrett said. \u201cWe\u2019re offering opportunities for the young people in our communities that will hopefully turn into careers. Organizations like the Clifton Park-Halfmoon EMS are always there for us. Getting young people involved in lifesaving first careers is very important. Sometimes it takes a spark of interest, and we hope this program will be able to provide that spark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan Bell, executive director of the Clifton Park-Halfmoon EMS, noted that EMT careers are a growing need in the community. The number of calls the EMS has fielded has been increasing, creating a need for more staff. Additionally, as current staff age out or move on, more staff are needed to fill the openings.<\/p>\n
After the kickoff ceremony, EMS staff invited the students to practice some EMT skills. Training equipment was brought out of an ambulance and interested students took turns getting instruction in how to use the materials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been really focused on trying to bring more dynamic, real-life experiences to the classroom,\u201d commented Shenendehowa Superintendent of Schools Dr. Oliver Robinson as he watched the students. \u201cWe want students to be excited about learning, and there\u2019s nothing more exciting than being able to do something you\u2019re interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a pilot program, the EMT Career Pathway will be evaluated upon its completion in September. If it\u2019s deemed successful (or worth another try with some reworking), it will be offered again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a chance to see what works,\u201d said McCloskey. \u201cWhen we do it again in the future, we can be more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barrett is hoping that a successful pilot program will lead to something that is offered throughout the Capital Region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already received feedback from other supervisors. This could really expand. Other counties are watching to see how it works out, and perhaps in the future it will grow beyond Saratoga County,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/EMT-training_-Record-450x338.jpg\")
Record\/Saratogian photo<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Published:<\/strong>\u00a0Fri, 06 May 2022 12:20:35 +0000 by\u00a0d.gardner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The EMT Career Pathway Pilot Program, a new partnership of the Town of Clifton Park, Clifton Park-Halfmoon EMS, Hudson…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18053\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wpdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}