Students of BC3’s EMS Academy near program completion
BUTLER TWP — What do a volunteer firefighter, aspiring paramedic and a criminology student have in common?
All three are members of the Butler County Community College’s inaugural EMS Academy class and are more than halfway through completing the program.
Zachary Broome, a medic at a local nursing home and volunteer firefighter with Oneida Volunteer Fire Department, said he hopes the EMS training will be a stepping stone on his way to becoming a pre-hospital registered nurse.
Patrick Kresh said that with the training he hopes to one day become a paramedic.
“I grew up around EMS,” Broome said. “My grandparents were in EMS, and my whole family was in the medical field. I moved up here from Florida in 2020 and joined the volunteer fire department and started working in the medical field as a nurse’s aide.”
“I’ve always wanted to be in EMS, so I finally took the chance,” he said. “I have a passion for helping people and taking care of people and being there when they need someone.”
“A lot of us have some family history in some manner in EMS, Kresh said. “My grandfather was a fireman. My brother’s assistant chief in Grove City.”
Alyssa Magill, a sophomore at Slippery Rock University studying exercise science, said the summer program works well with her college schedule as she plans to use the specialized training in her journey to become a physician assistant.
Paige Duke, who studies criminology at BC3, said being part of the EMS Academy will offer her a preview of what it’s like to work alongside law enforcement in the future.
After receiving their EMS certifications, students will work for an EMS agency in the county full time for one year and “give back to the community,” said Tom Buttyan, coordinator of EMS and police training.
“EMS has always had open slots and shifts, but it’s gotten steadily worse,” Buttyan said. “Call volumes have increased, and the amount of employees has gone down. There’s a lot of ambulance services closing.”
“There (are) a lot of people who can’t get an ambulance in a timely manner,” he said.
Low pay driven by low federal reimbursement rates is one contributing factor to the shortage, Buttyan said.
Since completing the class himself at BC3 in 1992, the hourly requirement has grown from 120 to 184, he said.
“The medical field has gotten more in depth as far as the knowledge that is needed,” Buttyan said. “It’s not just first aid, stop the bleeding, splint the fracture. We actually get into anatomy, physiology, and it’s more of an entry level for any kind of health care (profession).”
“Most people probably don’t realize that in EMS, you’re pretty much doing a nurse’s job, just in a more fast-paced environment,” Broome said. “It’s higher stress. You’re diagnosing; you’re treating while transporting (the patient) to the hospital.”
The academy consists of an eight-week accelerated program. Normally, training takes 16 weeks, Buttyan said.
Within eight weeks, students undertake the same basic life support and ambulance driver training, as well as personal empowerment training and weekly clinical experience with local EMS agencies.
The program is fast-paced, Buttyan said, and equips students with the skills needed to pass their EMS certification, while simultaneously addressing the shortage of EMS workers in the county.
“This initiative was to get people in the field and get trained in a quick manner,” he said. “It’s half the time, still the same amount of material.”
Buttyan said Butler County residents ages 18 and older can apply for the EMS Academy hosted by the community college, with a session starting Sept. 23.
Classes are capped at 12 students.
Students in the fast-paced course are paid a stipend of $13 an hour while attending classes 40 hours a week thanks to a $600,000 contract approved by county commissioners last December using money from Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds.
The program also teaches communication and interpersonal skills, with students learning ways to cope with stress and prevent burnout from instructors who are veterans in the field.
“It’s all about the patients,” Buttyan said.
“When I look at my career, I was doing a transport to Pittsburgh from Butler, and the patient developed respiratory distress,” he said. “Just putting some oxygen totally took them to being fine. It was interesting to see (how) a very simple decision can change the way somebody’s life is being lived.”
“Some people focus on the bad calls,” Buttyan said. “But it’s the little things that you have to appreciate.”
