Hennessey Firefighters along with several other agencies have been studying for their EMR certification for about a month and last night they were tested on their skills. The evening started with a written test followed by several hands-on tests. The students were required to rotate through several stations that were set up as mock incidents.
This certification allows Hennessey Firefighters to be covered on medical calls and wrecks to actively participate in patient care With this certification, The HFD is required to have some members with an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) license or above in the department.
The EMR license gives a responder more knowledge of patient care before more advanced care arrives, the uses of equipment, and better basic knowledge of how to assist our own EMTs or Life EMS crews that are on the scene. They will be tested in skills such as patient assessments both trauma and medical, use of a bag valve mask(BVM) device, oxygen with a non-rebreather mask, and cardiac arrest with an AED.
Sara Kaiser, a paramedic with Life EMS and Perry FD, was the instructor for this EMR class held at the Hennessey fire department. Pizza for the night of testing was provided by Eagle Mart.
