Pumping out paramedics
Ivy Tech alters course structure to accommodate student schedules; also, Karickhoff co-authors bill to pay public employees a ‘13th check’
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Paul Reeder watched as the seven emergency medical technicians worked to insert breathing tubes into pig lungs. The students were receiving some hands-on training to eventually become paramedics through Ivy Tech Community College’s Health Sciences program in Kokomo.
Unfortunately for one student, the lungs didn’t inflate when he first squeezed the ambu bag. There was a hole in one of the lungs.
“You’ve found the trauma on your patient,” said Reeder, an EMS professional, helicopter medic, and paramedic who now teaches the paramedic training courses provided by Ivy Tech in Kokomo.
Reeder is joined by Mark Fair, program chair of the Health Sciences division. Together, the instructors will open paramedic classes to even more students in the fall, thanks to a change in the way the classes are structured.
“The fall class will be unique for us because we’re changing how we offer the class,” said Fair. “Most of the people in our line of work do 24-hour shifts. They work one day and then be off two. We will begin offering the same lecture in each class three days a week – Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
“That way, if they work one of those days, they should have one of the other days available for the class. They won’t have to swap shifts. It can be hard to get someone to come in and cover you while you go to school. And the departments are paying overtime to the person coming in to cover the shift. By offering the classes this way, we can help eliminate overtime expense for the departments.”
Fair said it costs a public safety department more than $100,000 per student to send them for training, figuring in all the overtime they have to cover. There are several fire departments that want to send their employees for training now that the schedule will change to accommodate their workflow, he explained.
And those students will get to work on actual lungs and hearts as part of their Airway and Cardiology labs. Thanks to local farmers, Ivy Tech is able to provide actual organs that closely represent those found in people; in this case, from pigs.
During this class, the paramedic hopefuls found success intubating the lungs. In their next class, the structure of the heart will be examined.
“We let them get the tube in, and hopefully, they will be able to inflate the lungs,” said Fair. “We can squeeze the lung while they have the bag on it to simulate a lung that has damage. It will be really hard to squeeze the bag.
“We also can dissect the heart and see how the blood flows through it. We can look at the chamber and the valves. We teach them how to trace a drop of blood through the body. To see it in a book is one thing. To see it in person is completely different.”
The students will need five semesters of classwork to complete their Associate’s degree and to become a paramedic. That commitment, coupled with the new class structure, necessitated the addition of Reeder to the staff.
“To this point, I have been a one-man show,” said Fair. “But with this new schedule, we have to hold a lecture three days a week and a lab three days a week. I can’t do both the lab and the lecture, so we hired Reeder.”
More than 8,000 students graduate each year from the Health Sciences programs at Ivy Tech Community College statewide, ready for careers in a wide range of high-demand healthcare careers. Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Campus will be open Feb. 28 to share healthcare options – and other Ivy Tech programs – at the next “Tuesday@TheTech” open house for prospective students.
This is one of a series of monthly events aimed at sharing Ivy Tech’s high-tech facilities and broad range of programming in the Kokomo Service Area with prospective students of all ages. This event is set for 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Health Professions Center at the campus at 1815 E. Morgan St.
“The need for healthcare professionals in a wide range of fields is well-known – and Ivy Tech offers the training needed to step into these careers,” said Tami Shepard, dean of the School of Health Sciences for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area, which includes Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Pulaski and Tipton counties. “Prospective students attending the open house can learn more about their many options with a special emphasis on expanding programs like Paramedic Science and Emergency Medical Technician.”
Ivy Tech enrollment specialists will be on hand to offer one-on-one support so you can get ready to begin your college education.
For more information about how to register for this Tuesday@TheTech, go to ivytech.edu/tuesdays or email Kokomo-enrollment@ivytech.edu . Walk-ins are welcome. To get more information about the Paramedic program, visit https://www.ivytech.edu/paramedic-science/index.html or contact program chair Mark Fair at mfair2@ivytech.edu or (765) 252-5576.
Karickhoff co-authors bill to provide '13th check' for public employees
The Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously advanced a proposal co-authored by State Rep. Mike Karickhoff (R-Kokomo) that would provide a "13th check" to retired public employees and teachers.
Karickhoff said House Bill 1028 would provide a one-time, post-retirement payment designed to help cover cost-of-living gaps. The payment is based on an employee's number of years vested in their retirement plan. The legislation also includes a $50 increase to retirees in the state's public pension program.
"Hoosiers who dedicated their careers to public service deserve this additional benefit, especially as inflation remains high," Karickhoff said. "This is common sense legislation and it's the right thing to do."
Karickhoff said teachers, public employees, state excise police, gaming agents, gaming control officers, conservation officers and state police officers who are a part of Indiana’s public pension program would receive a 13th check, as well as a $50 increase in 2023 and 2024.
House Bill 1028 now moves to the Indiana Senate for further consideration. Learn more at iga.in.gov.