This is the first year an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course has been offered in Northside ISD and it is currently only at Brennan and Marshall high schools. Twelve students are enrolled at Marshall and under the guidance of teacher Billy Soliz, are learning entry-level patient and emergency care. The course, which spans two class periods each day, builds upon skills learned in the pre-requisite course Health Science Theory. Upon completion of the course, students can schedule a computer-based national registry test and apply for state certification as an EMT-Basic. The EMT-Basic certification means students could be hired by private ambulance services, volunteer fire departments, or as an ER tech at a hospital. Paramedic training is a more rigorous college-based program.

“You’re work ready with an EMT-Basic certification and it can be used as a stepping stone to move on to other things in your career, including nursing, medical school, and even physician’s assistants programs,” Soliz said. “In this class you can fine tune patient care and communication skills.”

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