Federal financial aid will be applicable to a Butler County Community College emergency medical technician certification preparation course debuting this fall within a two-year career program that could allow future lifesavers to save money and help to reduce a statewide shortage of first responders.

BC3's emergency services-EMS option associate degree program requires EMT certification as it prepares graduates for positions as front line personnel in prehospital and clinical health care environments.

Students previously pursued EMT certification preparation through a noncredit course offered by an approved educational provider of their choice. But most noncredit courses are ineligible for federal financial aid, said Julianne Louttit, BC3's director of financial aid.

While students who previously passed a noncredit certification preparation class would receive six credits toward the 60-credit associate degree, federal financial aid was not applicable to defray the $700 cost of the course.

“Now their preparation for that certification is eligible for financial aid, so it's not coming out of their pocket,” said Stephen Joseph, dean of BC3's humanities and social science division. “They have to get these studies in before they can even sit for the exam.”

BC3 students enrolled in the program must complete prerequisites in medical terminology, medical law and ethics, and basic human structure — for which federal financial aid is also applicable — before taking the EMT certification course.

Those who pass the EMT certification course will receive six credits. Those who pass the exam and become certified as an EMT by the state's Department of Health and the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians will receive an additional credit hour.

The certification preparation class includes three lecture hours and three lab hours weekly, and a total of at least 16 patient contact hours. Topics in the course include airway, respiration and artificial ventilation; cardiac arrest management, respiratory emergencies, bleeding and shock, highway safety and vehicle rescue and chest and abdominal trauma.

The number of job openings for EMTs and paramedics will grow by 7 percent through 2028, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

EMS West and EMMCO West are councils that oversee EMS activities in Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer and 16 other Western Pennsylvania counties for the state Department of Health.

While the councils have 14,000 EMS providers, there is a shortage of providers in the state and nationally, said Kiley Cribbs, coordinator of BC3's EMS and police training programs.

BC3 student Morgan Evinger, a native of Marysville, Pa., anticipates helping others and filling that shortage.

He will be among the first students in the program to benefit from the EMT certification course for which financial aid is applicable.

“I've been thinking about this a lot,” said Evinger, 20. “Paying for college is always an issue with everybody. This is now being given financial aid and we can put that money toward something else that we can use. It's wonderful, especially given that I came from the background that I did. I came from a blue-collar family. We are not rich, but we are doing our best.”

William Foley is the coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.