New River Community and Technical College awarded grant to provide scholarships for EMS program students
A grant from the West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services will fund scholarships for 15 students enrolled in the EMS program at NRCTC. The college is also expanding offerings of the program and opening its facility to students from other institutions to take their certification tests.
Fifteen scholarships of $1,500 each are being made available to students at New River Community and Technical College who are currently enrolled in the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician program. Other changes in the EMS program include additional upcoming class offerings to begin in March, as well as an expansion of testing opportunities for students from other institutions. All of these initiatives were taken to meet the rising demand for certified EMS workers in the state.
New River Community and Technical College announced the changes in a recent release. Students interested in careers as an emergency medical technician can earn the EMT-B certification through the college. Upon completion, students can then opt to pursue the next level in certification through the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) program. The West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services recently awarded a grant that will ease the financial burden on NRCTC students who are already enrolled in the AEMT program. The scholarships can be applied to tuition, administrative fees, and to cover the costs of certification testing. The college is also expanding opportunities by adding additional class sessions for the EMT-B program this spring, hoping to graduate more students to meet the high demand for EMTs in West Virginia.
Due to interruptions in testing schedules brought about by COVID-19, many students from the region who have completed their training have been unable to complete the required cognitive exam to gain their certification. Well aware of the demand for certified EMTs, administrators at NRCTC opted to open their testing site in January to students from any school. NRCTC Director of EMS Programs Travis Copenhaver said of the decision, "Because COVID-19 has made it difficult for many to test, we opened these tests up to the public. Some of the candidates we tested lived six hours away."
Participants who passed the National Registry Paramedic Psychomotor exam will be credentialed in whichever state they completed their coursework. Copenhaver noted that in the most recent exam, NRCTC students performed well, "We are thrilled that all of our students passed their exam. They have given the last year of their lives and overcome so many challenges with COVID-19 and the efforts to get them to this point."