By Renato Gandia
Portage Daily Graphic (Manitoba)
Copyright 2007 Sun Media Corporation
All Rights Reserved
A flight paramedic with a local airline has found a fun way to study that she also turned into a business opportunity. Joe DeWittee, who works for Air Mikisew, has invented EMS Challenge, a board game that schools in Canada and the United States are using to help teach and train future emergency services workers.
Question: How did you come up with the idea?
DeWitte: About 10 years ago when I started in the field, I was using flash cards to study. I decided to turn it into a game. I took three pieces of a board and a couple of toy ambulances and fire trucks and started playing with it. Using flash cards is just a fun way of studying by yourself, but if you put it in a board game you can study with a whole bunch of people.
In my field, there are three different levels: EMR (emergency medical responder), which is a couple of weeks, EMT (emergency medical technician), six months, and paramedic, which requires two years of trainings. When I went through the different levels, I just made extra flash cards as I moved along.
When did you have it made into a board game?
I manufactured it and was made available in 2006.
Who uses it now?
There are about 10 instutions in Alberta that have it in their schools, including the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, the Soutern Alberta Institute of Technology, Portage College, Medicine Hat College and St. John Ambulance training facilities across Alberta. As well, there are 10 institutions in the States, including Boston University and the University of Oklahoma. They use it in classroom. We’ve sold 140 units so far.
What are users saying about the game?
We have some testimonials from people who have used it. A number of people called and said, “It’s been fantastic and a great way to study.” Students at NAIT have come back and told me, “It’s fun.”
When you manufactured the game, who did you think would be interested in it?
The name of my company is EMS Edutainment; that’s my passion, that’s my area of expertise. That’s why this game is specifically for EMS. But we had a dentist who bought the game recently. There’s a yoga instructor that wants to buy it, because three of the categories are basic medical knowledge. Any kind of medical field — dental hygienist, nurse — they could all use it. There are supplemental questions for firefighting.
We have more products coming up. They’re in production phases now and are more mainstream games such as CPR games, babysitting, etc.
Did you have the questions reviewed by anybody?
Yes. Over 10 years ago when I started it, there are questions that I picked while I was studying. Before we manufactured it we had the questions tested and reviewed by students and instructors at Medicine Hat College, SAIT and Portage College.
We also used a prototype. There’ve been about three or four different versions of it. We made sure the questions were fun and the questions were all good.
Where can people buy it?
They can buy it online at our website and also the bookstore at NAIT carries the game, but we’re looking for wider distribution. We’re working on getting some distributors. There also are a couple of publishing companies that we’ve been talking with. They have copies of the game right now and they’re doing their own internal marketing analysis to make sure it meets their needs.Did you have the questions reviewed by anybody?
Yes. Over 10 years ago when I started it, there are questions that I picked while I was studying. Before we manufactured it we had the questions tested and reviewed by students and instructors at Medicine Hat College, SAIT and Portage College.
We also used a prototype. There’ve been about three or four different versions of it. We made sure the questions were fun and the questions were all good.
Where can people buy it?
They can buy it online at our website and also the bookstore at NAIT carries the game, but we’re looking for wider distribution. We’re working on getting some distributors. There also are a couple of publishing companies that we’ve been talking with. They have copies of the game right now and they’re doing their own internal marketing analysis to make sure it meets their needs.