News Article

Heroes in the making


3/23/2007 11:41:15 AM


The Primary Care Paramedicine program in Stephenville has incorporated mock emergency scenarios using faculty and staff. Iris Park and Elissa Gillam participate in a training exercise at the Bay St. George campus.

College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Primary Care Paramedicine program at the Bay St. George campus has brought its hand-on training scenarios to a unique new level.

The campus has implemented an initiative where students deal with mock medical emergencies. Faculty and staff at the campus have volunteered to assist in honing students’ reflexes.

“There is a lot of hands-on training for this program,” says Coordinating Instructor Rob Bryenton. “A new initiative we’ve gotten involved in is volunteer faculty and employees who want to be mock patients. This has gone over with great success and the scenarios are being completed each day. We hope that by having students practice on live patients – with real vital signs, hand on assessments and realistic patient histories – it will better prepare them for what they will face when they go into the workforce.”

While the program was only recently offered in Bay St. George, Bryenton says Primary Care Paramedicine is not a new program with CNA, as it is currently offered at our campus in St. John’s.

“This is the first health science program that has ever been offered at Stephenville. CNA took over providing all paramedic training across the province and we have 10 students (enrolled at the Bay St. George campus). We’ve got nine females and one male, which is actually really strange – in the past we’ve had many more males than females – but it shows that there are a lot more females coming in to this particular field.”

He says the students in his class come from a wide variety of backgrounds – especially in age and where they’re from.

He also states that if the mock scenarios initiative is successful, it may be copied in the St. John’s location as well.

Besides working in a classroom setting for 15 weeks, students participate in a 17–week clinical placement. Bryenton feels this new mock emergency initiative will be beneficial to the students’ overall experience with the program, especially when it comes to their clinical placements.

“Students will be placed throughout the province, working with a Primary Care Paramedic, in various ambulance services. They will also be placed with a nurse preceptor in various emergency rooms, pediatric wards, and are required to witness and assist with two child births.”

Students Iris Park and Elissa Gillam feel the mock emergency scenarios will be beneficial to their overall training.

“I like the program,” says Iris Park. “I like the hands-on part of the course. With it you’re getting a lot of hands-on experience and we have more clinical practice than in class practice. It’s definitely an awesome program.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Gillam.

“Rob is the best instructor I’ve ever had for any program,” says Gillam. “I think the way the program is set up - it’s so much in such a short period of time - they make sure you know what you’re doing.”

The 32–week program accepts students three times a year – during September and March for Prince Philip Drive and in January for Bay St. George.

Paramedics are highly skilled health care professionals, initiating medical treatment for individuals in crisis situations, Bryenton says the Primary Care Paramedicine program is helping fulfill a need in this fast-paced industry.

“There is a demand for paramedics in the workforce,” concludes Bryenton. “By delivering this program out of the Bay St. George and St. John’s campuses, the college hopes to meet those demands.”

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