For years, Rollo, Texas has relied on other municipalities and companies for our Emergency Medical services. We rarely had need of such services, as we had our own doctor. But on rare occasion when Doc was out of town and half of our volunteer fire department was home sick and the other half working out of town, we needed to call for help. And that help took almost 30 minutes, round trip, not counting how long to work on patients.

    So it was, ten years ago, the idea was floated around the council meetings of enlisting high school students for help. Eventually, someone did the research and found that 17-year-old residents could actually be certified EMT’s as long as the municipality was in need. We explained the process to the students and their parents, and the benefits for everyone. You see, Rollo had set aside a sizable retainer for EMS services.  The town would save lots of money if we had our own volunteer Emergency Medical Service.

    The training was not cheap, but each emergency we didn’t have to call out, was actually worth one student’s training. Plus, Doc could give extra lessons, and authorize treatments via mobile phone, for simple issues to these trainees. The extra money goes towards scholarships and grants for college or other training the students choose. Along with the money is a letter of recognition and referral for their services.

    Well, today we had a going away party for three of our first EMT’s. Two are going to college under a pre-med programme. The third is going straight into work as an EMT in Houston.

    We had 10 students working in the programme. The other seven were a mix, mostly juniors when they started out. The two others have decided to stay on as paid interns, with Doc, for another year before applying to a college, finding a job or even traveling. Best of luck to them, though I doubt they need it. They've had a great start with this programme and the programme has had a great start with them.