It’s all hands-on deck as Spirit EMS launches not one, but two paid EMT classes later this month. The classes will run simultaneously at Spirit’s newest satellite location in Defiance and at the company education center in Greenville.
The EMT classes are a partnership between Spirit EMS and Four County Career Center based in Archbold. This fast-paced earn while you learn class will be held five days a week starting September 18th and end seven weeks later on November 3rd. Classes are held Monday-Friday with some occasional weekend commitments.
Spirit EMS Education Director Scott Wolf will serve as the primary instructor for the Greenville class, while Captain Cathy Royal, EMS Educator and Defiance Station Manager, will be the primary instructor of the Defiance class.
The classes are adapted to various learning styles and include numerous hands-on learning opportunities as well as trips to a cadaver lab, an emergency vehicle operations course, a class with Chief Medicolegal Death Investigator Joe Van Vickle of the Darke County Coroner’s Office; lessons on the basics of customer service in EMS, just to name a few.
Since the company-sponsored scholarship program first began in August 2017, over $950K has been invested into educating local people desiring to start an EMT and/or paramedic career at Spirit EMS. The investment comes as a result of Spirit EMS having more than 130 area facilities on a waiting list, seeking the ambulance service Spirit EMS offers to the entire western half of Ohio and eastern portions of Indiana, with the realization they simply don’t have sufficient staffing to meet the service demand.
According to the Department of Labor, the demand for a career in the EMS field is on the rise. It’s estimated about 20,000 openings for EMTs and paramedics are projected each year, on average, over the decade nationally. Statistics recently released by the Ohio Board of Emergency Medical, Fire, and Transportation Services revealed the average age of an Ohio EMS provider is 43 years of age.
“Becoming an EMT is an excellent way to get introduced to a career in the medical field,” explained Spirit EMS President/CEO Brian K. Hathaway. “With the growing need for EMT’s and paramedics across the nation, there’s a growing number of opportunities available for people with compassion wanting to enter this self-rewarding career field.”
Hathaway said those interested in being paid under the EMT scholarship program while attending class will be required to maintain satisfactory attendance, pass the class, obtain national EMT certification, and must commit to working 2,080 hours as a full-time Spirit employee. It was shared once the classes are over and one has become certified, there is another month of paid hands-on training before one begins working the ambulance independently.
The application process for consideration is simple. Application requests can be made by going online to the Spirit webpage at www.spiritmedicaltransport.com and clicking on the graduation cap, or by emailing Spirit’s Director of Human Resources and Regulatory Compliance Ted Bruner at tbruner@spiritmedicaltransport.com.
The application deadline for both the classes and scholarship opportunity is Monday, September 11, 2023, at 5 p.m.
Spirit EMS staff support offices in Celina, Defiance, Greenville, Houston, Sidney, and Van Wert, Ohio, along with Liberty, Indiana. Scholarships and classes are open to people who live near their respective service areas. Company officials also provide transportation assistance to qualified scholarship applicants and also provide routine meals and other support to attending participants.
