By Leila Merrill
BEAUMONT, Texas — Acadian Ambulance Service’s paid, accelerated training programs are proving popular.
Acadian has an accelerated paramedic class in progress in Beaumont, and one for EMTs is set to begin in March in New Orleans.
“It’s just a great opportunity to take advantage of,” student Viviana Bealey told 12 News.
She is studying to be a paramedic. The classes used to take more than a year but now last only six months.
Instead of working while studying, students are in class for nine hours a day five days a week.
“It is your full-time job going to class, so we pay these kids to go to class, an hourly wage, that is their full-time job,” said Beaumont teacher Rebecca Gallagher.
A traditional EMT program takes four months to finish, but the accelerated EMT program can be completed in seven weeks.
“Since we launched the accelerated EMT program last year in multiple cities, we’ve had numerous students participate in the program, all who have passed the National Registry and are now working as EMTs with Acadian,” National EMS Academy Director Taylor Richard told Biz New Orleans. “These new EMTs are already proving to be invaluable to supporting our staffing.”
Applications for the EMT program in New Orleans are due by Feb. 11, and the first day of class will be March 7. Click here to learn more.
In other Acadian news, it complete its acquisition of MedicOne Medical Response and began operations in Nashville on Tuesday.