Odessa American
BROWNWOOD, Texas 鈥� For many firefighters in central Texas, Brownwood will be home for the next few months 鈥� at least one day of the week.
Some firefighters from Brownwood, Mason and Stephenville, along with an emergency medical technician (EMT) with Lifeguard Ambulance Service of Texas, are part of Texas State Technical College鈥檚 Emergency Medical Services 鈥� Advanced EMT AEMT certificate of completion program, which began this fall. The class meets each Thursday this semester.
鈥淭his program lines up well with my schedule, and by completing the program, I will be bettering myself and the department,鈥� Hayden Ince, a firefighter with the Stephenville Fire Department, said. 鈥淚t is a big deal for the classes to be offered in Brownwood because it is a lot closer than some of the other classes we looked at.鈥�
Keegan Craddock, also with the Stephenville Fire Department, said he can achieve a personal goal by completing the class.
鈥淚 want to be a paramedic,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is the next step for me to achieve that.鈥�
Craddock said he is looking forward to what the class offers.
鈥淚 know that we will be getting into the more advanced stuff later this semester,鈥� he said.
Also included in the program is TSTC鈥檚 Immersive Interactive lab, a virtual training area with realistic settings 鈥� enhanced with sounds and smells 鈥� that include a garage with a car on fire, a grandmotherly living room, a city park, a lake and a volcano, to name a few, a news release said.
鈥淚t is cool to have an entire environment in one room,鈥� Craddock said. 鈥淚t will be intense training in a real-world environment.鈥�
Like Craddock, Caleb Burk wants to advance in his career. He has been with the Stephenville Fire Department for 10 months and was impressed with TSTC.
鈥淭he facilities are great,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will be covering a lot over the next several months.鈥�
Cameron Horton, a Brownwood Fire Department firefighter, is no stranger to TSTC鈥檚 Brownwood campus: He is a 2021 graduate of the EMT program.
鈥淚t is a big deal that we get these programs going in Brownwood,鈥� he said.
Horton said the Immersive Interactive lab was not available when he was a student at the Brownwood campus, so he could not wait for his first scenario in the room.
鈥淚t is very important to get as close to a realistic environment as we can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t will also help with our stress when we are going to an actual call.鈥�
Miranda Hicks is not only the instructor for the class, but also a graduate of TSTC鈥檚 Emergency Medical Services program.
鈥淚t is definitely different, but I love it,鈥� she said of being in front of the class rather than sitting at a student desk. 鈥淚 have been waiting for a class like this so we can showcase our Brownwood campus. I am excited for the future of the EMS program in Brownwood .鈥�
TSTC will offer a basic EMT class next spring at the Brownwood campus, Hicks said.
鈥淲e have a lot to offer the first responders in a central location,鈥� she said.
According to , the need for emergency medical technicians in Texas was expected to grow 19% between 2020 and 2030.
In its Emergency Medical Services program, TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Paramedic, as well as certificates of completion in Emergency Medical Services 鈥� EMT, Emergency Medical Services 鈥� Advanced EMT AEMT, and Emergency Medical Services 鈥� Paramedic. The program is available at the Abilene, Brownwood and Harlingen campuses.
To learn more about TSTC, visit .
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