A course that started up last year involves all-hands-on-deck kind of activities. These activities involve riding out with first responders, shifts at the ER, and acting out real-life scenarios during class. This course is called Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), which is instructed by Wrestling Coach and retired EMT, Jayson Conger. Conger has four years of field experience and acquired his license through the military. “One of the first things you do [if you’re a medic in the military] is going through an EMT program,” Conger said. “That’s a license program they use.”
Conger has also gone through a municipality in South Texas called Eagle Creek Emergency Medical Services, which is where he ran an ambulance, too. With the EMS program, it comes with the reality of the significance the program holds.
“I think it’s important for everyone to know the type of stuff that will allow you to help people when needed,” senior Collin Little said. “To help, say, if someone ever needs CPR—I can help. And, say, if anyone needs anything involving that kind of help, I’d know how to be able to step in.”
Throughout the course, students are cleared for clinicals at the beginning of November, which allows them to ride out with EMS crews as well as help out at the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle ER. So when it comes to stepping in, these students are expected to know what to do and be mature in any circumstance. They are frequently faced with difficult situations.
“I was with Azle Fire, a paramedic, and two firefighters throughout all of my calls [one] day,” senior Keagan Stuart said. “After my first call and my second call, which was a rollover (when a car rolls over on its side or upside down), and the man refused care after two hours with the police taking custody of him, I responded to my third and final call of the day, which resulted in a dead body.”
No matter what happened on the shift, Conger holds a debrief to talk about what each student has experienced that day and the personal toll that may come along with it, and that circumstance.
“If there’s any personal conversations that take place, then we could handle those up front and or privately,” Conger said. “And we include their parents in those conversations. If the situation is severe enough to need to get an additional level of help, we get them to speak to a professional or just speak to people who have been there before to help talk through it. This can help a lot.”
This course is structured by having guidelines run by the School EMS, which provides the educational standards. This sets up online modules and provides instructions for labs taken throughout the year. Then those aspects lead into ride-outs with Azle Fire and ER shifts with Texas Health Resources. At the end of the course, students take the National Registry test to possibly gain their EMT certifications.
According to The National Registry’s website, “The National Registry is a non-profit, non-governmental certification organization serving the emergency medical services (EMS) community. Through validating the knowledge, skills, and competency of EMS professionals and providing a uniform standard across states for emergency medical care. At its core, the National Registry is focused on public safety.”
Students who take the class have said they feel prepared by the clinical process and from Coach Conger’s personal experience.
“Coach Conger has definitely provided us with what it’s like in the field as well as his field experience and telling us stories of things that he’s had to deal with as he’s served as an actual EMT,” senior Madyson Kirby said. “He’s taken the National Registry three times and has passed it every time, so he knows what he’s talking about when he teaches us. He shows that and he cares about us passing and becoming certified.”
