AMED’s Education Institute in Lakemont was recently accredited by the state Department of Health to teach a program that will enable emergency medical technicians to become advanced EMTs.

The first batch of students will start a six-week course Dec. 1, while a second batch will start in early January, so by mid-February, there will be 11 new advanced EMTs — all current AMED employees who will remain on staff, except for one employee of Duncansville EMS, who will remain with that service, according to AMED Executive Director Gary Watters.

Having advanced EMTs will give AMED more flexibility, allowing the organization to cover some Advanced Life Support calls with those newly trained employees, while reserving its pool of paramedics for higher-level calls, when necessary, according to Watters.

“Paramedics are a hot commodity,” Watters after a meeting Monday.

The training provided by the new program will bring EMTs about a third or half of the way up to paramedic level, according to Watters.

Unlike base-level EMTs, advanced EMTs can start intravenous lines, apply 12-lead EKGs and give some medications, including nitroglycerin — although they can’t continuously monitor EKGs or intubate, like paramedics, Watters said.

Advanced EMTs can handle calls for standard chest pain, Watters said.

To become accredited, AMED needed to adopt new policies, create a class syllabus, obtain additional equipment and arrange for clinical rotations at local hospitals, Watters said.

“It was a big step,” he said.

Standard EMT training doesn’t require clinical rotations.

To avoid classroom conflicts, the second course will be “hybrid,” with some coursework presented online and some in person, Watters said.

Until now, the institute has trained only emergency medical responders and EMTs, Watters said.

To prepare for the workplace loss of the EMTs during their time in the program, AMED hired additional EMTs during the summer, Watters said.

The students will be getting paid during their school time.

The advanced EMT program will continue after the initial two courses are over.

Then “once we get our people trained,” the program will be open to the employees of other ambulance agencies, Watters said.

AMED would receive payment from those other agencies, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.