CLARKESVILLE - North Georgia soon will have better-trained medical responders as a result of a nearly $100,000 federal grant presented to North Georgia Technical College this week.
NGTC Emergency Services Program Director Charles Hill says the USDA Rural Business Development Grant will help with the education of emergency medical responders throughout the region.
"This grant is going to be phenomenal," Hill says. "It's allowed us to buy a piece of equipment that we've desperately needed for years. Our Advisory Board has repeatedly recommended that we purchase something like this and we just haven't been able to budget it in."
The college's current van-style ambulance has been inoperable for about 10 years, and served only as a stationary lab in which students could get the feel of working in tight quarters.
"This grant, half of it is allowing us to purchase an ambulance we're going to be able to use to teach students how to operate emergency vehicles in a safe, controlled environment, versus them being out in the field and trying to drive an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens for the very first time," Hill says.
The ambulance being purchased in Pennsylvania is a 2008 International medium-duty unit with only about 50,000 miles.
Hill says the unit was used at an airport, and therefore the interior still is pristine.
Hill is flying up to drive the ambulance back. As time permits, it will receive NGTC markings.
"The other half of the grant is going to be there to purchase three desparately needed pieces of equipment," Hill says.
"We're going to get a power stretcher, which is already being used in the industry," Hill says. "It's going to allow our students to practice with the equipment that they're going to be using in person. It's also going to allow us to safely maneuver those pieces of equipment without having a sick patient on that stretcher."
Power stretchers are becoming the norm to minimize the amount of lifting medical responders have to do with a patient. Once the patient is placed on the stretcher, its push-button operation raises it and makes it easier to load into an ambulance.
"We're also getting a brand new cardiac monitor," Hill says. "It's a Lifepak 15, which is the cutting-edge, top-of-the-line piece of equipment. It does everything you could ask for from one."
One of other modern tools the school will be receiving is one used to relieve rescuers from having to do lengthy CPR chest compressions by hand.
"The third piece of equipment we're getting is a Lucas II device, which is a manual CPR device," Hill says. "It's been recommended by the American Heart Association for the last 10 years that we start moving in that direction. They are quite expensive, so we haven't been able to purchase it out of regular funding."
Lucas devices currently are carried by the Habersham EMS supervisor, on Banks County ambulances, on Madison County ambulances and by numerous others in the region since most hospital transport times in rural northeast Georgia exceed 10 minutes.
"The fact that this grant came through for these four pieces of equipment - the three pieces of equipment and the ambulance - are just going to be a huge impact for our program," Hill says.
Hill hopes to have the ambulance in service during the upcoming week.
"As soon as it hits the ground, we'll be in it and start stocking it and start using it," Hill says.
Hill is thankful the college no longer will have to rely on surplus, outdated equipment for the training of current and future emergency responders.
"The biggest problem with hand-me-down equipment is by the time we get it, it's already outdated," Hill says. "Being able to purchase new equipment that they're actually going to be using in the field cuts down on that learning curve where they're having to figure out, 'ok, this is what we had in school and now this is what we're having to work with in the field'."
Hill says he anticipate the program growing even more because of the new, state-of-the art teaching equipment.
"Our program is already growing," Hill says. "We have our EMT and Advanced EMT on all three campuses, and we've just started our Paramedic program back up here at Clarkesville, and I only see it getting larger and larger. This is giving us the opportunity to teach our students what they're going to be using in the field," Hill says.
Hill says the college, with campuses in Clarkesville, Blairsville and Stephens County, trains roughly 50-60 students through the four different programs (Emergency Medical Responder, EMT, Advanced EMT, and Paramedic) in a year's time.
This is the fourth or fifth U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Business Development Grant awarded to NGTC over the years.
This particular one is a targeted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education project officials say will help rural Georgians gain a competitive advantage in the job market. Its goal is to improve ambulance-based safety and technology training for emergency medical professionals.
"We are thankful to receive these funds that will ultimately help save lives as well as promote private job creation in our area," says Mark Ivester, acting president of NGTC. "Our students and community will all benefit from this grant, and we are very appreciative of our relationship and partnership with the USDA to provide such a needed resource and training for our area."
Since FY 2013, USDA Rural Development Georgia's STEM Initiative has provided 11 grants totaling $594,000 to various STEM education projects.
To learn more about the emergency services programs of study at NGTC, visit northgatech.edu or call Hill at (706) 754-7808.
