The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NVAC) conducted a training day for a class of seven students hoping to become emergency medical technicians (EMTs) on Saturday, February 18.To learn more about the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps visit newtown-ambulance.org.

The organization currently consists of 70 EMTs who volunteer their time and services to help the community. EMTs must be 16 years old or older, complete a 180-hour program, and pass state and national tests. The hard work that it requires ensures students complete their extensive training capable and ready for real life scenarios.

Even after finishing this process, new EMTs will shadow more experienced EMTs on calls to confirm they are as prepared as possible. This extra procedure is rare in other communities and helps Newtown stand out as exceptional for this service.

NVAC member Ken Lerman spoke highly of the practice explaining, "One of the things that distinguishes us is our very strong training program."

Another testament to the quality of the program is how long members choose to stay involved at NVAC. Many members have decades worth of experience in the field and choose to take time to help the next generation of EMTs by being involved with the training days.

NVAC member Steve Rambone has been instructing training classes for five years and has 40 years of experience serving communities as an EMT.

"I got involved in high school, and I've been doing it every since," Mr Rambone said. His enthusiasm and passion for the work is apparent as he teaches students the lifesaving skills they need to be EMTs.

Mr Rambone started off the latest training session with a variety of classroom lessons, teaching the new students step-by-step instruction on how to assemble and implement the emergency equipment. He led the group through how to properly take care of a victim in need of medical assistance and gave tips from his experiences to help them learn how to best handle each task.

That information was paired with Mr Rambone's hands-on class participation that had the students working on a prop dummy to demonstrate the equipment, techniques, and their communication as a team.

Following the classroom session was the next phase of the training: the Extrication and Back Boarding Drill. The drill took place in the ambulance garage and consisted of four simulated real life scenarios that involved cars, ambulances, and other volunteers acting as victims.

Their equipment - backboards, C-collars, head blocks, tape, splints, bandages, working oxygen tanks, and new masks - was laid out, ready for the students to utilize during the drill.

In addition to Mr Lerman and Mr Rambone, members of the NVAC EMTs that participated in helping in the drill were Janet Albanesi, Joe Belisari, John Isdale, Jenn Newsome, Susan Cameron, Wendy Melville, Megan Posey, and Liz Cain.

At the beginning of the Extrication and Back Boarding Drill, students were randomly assigned into two teams of three to four people. Each team was paired with multiple NVAC members who would monitor and advise the group during the scenarios.

The drill was designed to assess how effectively and timely the students accomplished treating patients. The skills they used, such as properly strapping a patient to a backboard, were scored on a point system.

It was also the group's first opportunity to use their newly learned skills on real people.

The drill scenarios consisted of a mock car crash, where there would be a driver or drivers who obtained injuries from the accident.

Mr Rambone said, "Each time the scenario changes just a little bit."

The students were given a brief synopsis of the scene, then had to asses how to handle the situation.

The level of verbal assistance that the NVAC members contributed would gradually decrease as the scenarios proceeded until the last scene where they had to accomplish the task completely by themselves.

NVAC member Ms Posey explained, "Since we are observers, we are here to assist and offer suggests, but we don't hands-on help them. In the second [scenario] we do less, the third we do a lot less, and then the fourth we say nothing."

Even though the day's training was a drill, the EMT students worked diligently to assess and administer the best care to their mock patients, knowing the skills they learned that day can make a difference in helping save people's lives in the future.