July 12, 2024 |
Photo – NOLS students training at MHCC – Bigfoot99 file photo
Memorial Hospital of Carbon County is teaming up with the National Outdoor Leadership School to provide students with emergency medical training.
The National Outdoor Leadership School, or NOLS for short, is a Lander, Wyoming based nonprofit wilderness school that seeks to help people become better leaders through outdoor training. For the first time, NOLS students are visiting Memorial Hospital of Carbon County in Rawlins to take college accredited EMT training courses.
Emergency Department Manager Dan Starr said the classes teach students how to handle outdoor medical emergency situations.
Starr said students must spend time in a hospital emergency room to become EMT certified in the state of Wyoming. The ER manager said the National Outdoor Leadership School reached out to Memorial Hospital to provide students with the required training. Starr said NOLS students will continue to attend EMT classes in Rawlins until winter sets in.
Starr said NOLS students spend eight hours training in the hospital’s emergency room to prepare them for a career in medicine. After obtaining a patient’s permission, the students are tasked with performing medical assessments and obtaining vital signs.
Marketing Coordinator Keishah Edwards provided a testimonial from one of the NOLS students. The student said they had a bad experience at another facility. Upon arriving in Rawlins, they were impressed by the friendly and knowledgeable staff at Memorial Hospital. Starr said National Outdoor Leadership School students appreciate receiving EMT training in Rawlins.
Starr said he has been in contact with the National Outdoor Leadership School administration to have Memorial Hospital continue to provide EMT courses to students in the coming years. The ER manager said students from across the country have trained in Rawlins.
Starr said some National Outdoor Leadership School students take the EMT classes for college credits. Other students will use the training to pursue a career in the medical field. The ER manager said the course allows the young people to experience what working in a hospital is really like.
Starr said emergency room staff appreciate having the NOLS students around. The ER Manager said the young people allow his staff to review the basics of medical care.
Starr said in the past, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County was a highly regarded teaching hospital. By bringing in the National Outdoor Leadership School students, Starr said the hospital is slowing getting back to its teaching roots.
