By Christie S. Peterson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
For the first time, students at the UA will be able to attend a class training them to provide emergency medical services and prepare for the Arizona emergency medical technician certification exam this spring.
Similar classes have been held at Pima Community College in the past, but these were often inaccessible to University of Arizona students because registration priority was granted to Pima students.
The UA version of the class is the first step in a plan to organize a volunteer, student-staffed emergency service to supplement the traditional one already in place, following a nationwide trend of such programs that have been successfully adopted at 48 colleges and universities.
Bill Reynolds, who teaches the course at Pima and will be teaching it at the UA, emphasized that the students will only supply supplementary emergency services.
"They are not replacing the system, they are an adjunct; a support team," he said. "They could arrive a few minutes early. They could make all the difference in the world."
The course is being organized by Michael Vaughan, a philosophy senior, who has secured Associated Students funding to develop the program and is attempting to get university credit for those who attend.
Upon completion of the course, students will be prepared to take the state certification exam, will be qualified to work at a number of jobs in the medical field and will have received the training to possibly save a life. Vaughan also said many students choose to "go to the course and forgo taking the test, but they have that knowledge."
Students who elect not to become state certified will still be eligible to volunteer for the student response program because they will not be paid for service.
There will be 25 people in each section of the university class and Vaughan hopes to fill three sections, some meeting Tuesday and Thursday evenings, others on Mondays and Wednesdays, Jan. 30 through May 12.
The class fee of $300 is comparable to that charged at other major universities, where it is usually a six-credit course.
Those who are interested should contact Michael Vaughan at the ASUA office for more information.