For the first time in four years, Greenville residents interested in pursuing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Training will not have to drive out of town for class. Starting in the fall semester, Lurleen B. Wallace Junior College in Greenville will offer the first class in EMS training.

&uot;There are three levels in EMS training

basic, intermediate and paramedic. The basic class will be offered on the Greenville campus in the fall,&uot; said Chuck Crawford, director of the EMS program at LBW.

&uot;For a fully accredited program, you have to have a full-time program director on site,&uot; said Crawford. &uot;But, we are able to offer the basic class.&uot;

The basic course will teach students primarily how to take care of a patient in the first 10 to 30 minutes of an event and the official method of leaving a patient at a hospital. Students will be required to work rotations at a hospital, ride with an ambulance crew and also with a paramedic crew.

&uot;This part of the course is basically how to keep patients alive until they get to the hospital,&uot; said Crawford.

&uot;There is a nationwide crisis right now in EMS,&uot; he said. &uot;We don’t have enough people to staff the trucks so response time, especially in the rural areas, is about 30 minutes to an hour. The more people on staff as compared to the population, the quicker the response time will be.&uot;

In effort to attract adult students, the basic training class will meet two nights a week from 5:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.

&uot;Basically, if you are the type of person that is easily bored with routine, this is the ideal job. It’s an ever-changing field. Every year there are new techniques and new medicines and you have to stay on top of things,&uot; said Crawford.

Interested students can currently register at the Greenville campus and classes are scheduled to start the third week of August. For more information on the EMS program, call Chuck Crawford at 222-6591 ext. 2210.

right now in EMS,&uot; he said.