By Ellen G. Lahr
The Berkshire Eagle
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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad is investing time and money to keep basic EMT training programs accessible to the locals, as training rules have gotten tighter.
State rules adopted in 2005, intended to tighten professional standards for emergency personnel, scuttled the jobs of many freelance EMT instructors who offered training at local fire stations or senior centers.
So, now, instruction must take place at an accredited teaching facility that offers standardized training, equipment, supplies and testing capabilities. The local squad had the option of getting accreditation or of hoping that its prospective volunteers would travel to Pittsfield or Springfield for training.
“The idea is to be accessible to as many people as possible,” said Scott Farrell, a volunteer EMT and now a basic EMT instructor for the organization.
With volunteers already hard to come by, a long commute to a training class is a deterrent to otherwise interested people, he said.
Meeting the state regulations meant an investment of about $15,000 in new equipment and supplies; a foundation grant will supply up to $50,000 for past and future costs.
Farrell and EMT Charles Spirydowski are the certified teachers, and the SBVAS facility is serving as a regional training center. About a dozen people have signed up for a new course, set to begin Sept. 6 and running through Dec. 11; Farrell said he would like 20 in the class.
150 hours of training
Prospective EMTs face 150 hours of training over a four-month period, which includes two nights each week and one full Saturday each month.
The $650 cost of the class must be paid up front. Some organizations, such as SBVAS and other area squads, will reimburse participants who join up after passing state tests.
The accreditation program was not universally embraced at first, said Brian Andrews, head of County Ambulance in Pittsfield, one of two other county organizations now operating under the accredited program.
“Not everybody was initially prepared to deal with all the components involved, and we saw a lot of people getting out of EMT training,” he said. “It used to be done by individual EMT instructors who had no affiliation with a teaching institution.”
Now, he said, he appreciates the standards set by the state Office of Emergency Medical Services.
County Ambulance, which previously did not offer basic EMT training, will offer its second such class starting Aug. 31.
“In the scheme of things, as you look across the state as a whole, there are uniform policies and procedures about what’s expected,” Andrews said. “This gives us more credibility.”
County Ambulance will be teaming up with Berkshire Community College on some future classes as well, he said.
It took a year to complete the accreditation process, he added.
Farrell said Southern Berkshire volunteers typically work one shift per month, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., after the paid staff goes home for the day. Weekend “volunteers” are paid for their time.
Training issues also are confronting volunteer fire companies because there are few instructors available in Western Massachusetts to run programs for local volunteers.
It takes 200 hours of training to become a volunteer firefighter; the last regional training ran from September to March, and another is not scheduled anytime soon, said Great Barrington Fire Chief Harry Jennings.