Free Emergency Trauma Technician Course
by Jan Yaeger
How are your first aid skills? Do you know how to splint an elbow? What’s the best way to stop serious bleeding? Someone you know isn’t acting normally. Are they just in a strange mood or do they actually have a medical condition that needs treatment? If you’re out on the water or in the woods and there’s a serious medical emergency, do you know what to do?
Alaskans pride ourselves on being able to take care of ourselves in challenging situations. Those of us who live off the road system have taken this a step further, deciding that the rewards of living in a lovely, small community away from crowds and traffic are worth a bit of inconvenience. But when emergency situations arise, we also face a higher degree of risk, because we live in a place where transportation out to advanced medical care is not always readily available. At those times, it’s good to have some extra knowledge about what to do and how to do it.
The Seldovia Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD), which provides emergency medical response in Seldovia and the surrounding area, is offering an Emergency Trauma Technician class this spring. This is a practical, hands-on, forty-hour class that goes beyond basic First Aid. You will learn how to provide basic care for ill and injured people in a variety of emergency situations until they can reach more advanced medical help. Although it is similar to what is known as a “First Responder” class in the lower 48, this is truly an Alaskan course, developed originally for people working in the remote logging camps of Southeast AK.
At the completion of the course, you will be eligible for State of Alaska certification as an Emergency Trauma Technician. If you decide you want to learn even more, the forty hours of ETT class can be counted toward the 120 hours required to become an Emergency Medical Technician. SVFD is planning to offer an “ETT to EMT 1 Bridge class” this coming fall.
The class begins Monday, March 31 and will wrap up Saturday, April 19. We will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm, with a break for lunch. Class will be held in the Seldovia VFD Training Room, in the lower level of the Multipurpose Building. The entrance is on Lipke Lane.
Taking the class places you under no obligation whatsoever. SVFD is happy to provide this training for Seldovia; after all, the more people who know what to do in an emergency, the better off we are as a community! However, becoming an ETT does make you eligible to join the Seldovia Volunteer Fire Department EMS Squad, and we certainly hope you will strongly consider becoming a part of our crew! We train together frequently to build our skills, knowledge and teamwork, and new members are always welcome!
If you would like to sign up for the class, there are posters with sign-up space in the post office and at the door to the fire hall. You can also contact Jan Yaeger at 252-1388, or janyaeger@yahoo.com, or stop by the fire hall during office hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:30 am – 2:30 pm.
Category: Community
Seldovia Time
