Dual enrollment students put their Emergency Trauma Technician training into practice

by Vicki Heisser  |   

For dual enrollment Emergency Trauma Technician (ETT) students, Evan and Ethan Clupper, putting their training into practice came sooner than expected.

ETT is one of many Allied Health courses offered at Valdez High School and taught by PWSC Instructor, George Keeney. As part of the ETT class, George encourages his students to volunteer at local events to help if needed. During a recent Elks Tournament Basketball game, Evan and Ethan were the standby medics alongside Dr. Angela Alfaro. When someone got hurt, Dr. Alfaro put Evan and Ethan to work.

Evan explains, “About 10 minutes into the game, we saw a classmate of ours walk-off holding his mouth, and we wondered what happened. He went into the locker room, we thought it was an injury, and then we saw Dr. Alfaro rush in there. And we both got up, grabbed our ETT bag, and went to see what happened.”

Dr. Alfaro was happy to have Evan and Ethan there to help, and she’s glad that PWSC is offering ETT and EMT courses for students. She shares, “I was very grateful for their assistance. They both saw an opportunity to help and jumped right in with excellent skills and wonderful attitudes. Having students participate in the ETT and EMT courses that PWSC offers at the high school provides invaluable lifelong skills that students can turn to no matter what career path they take. Taking the courses provides skills to think on your feet in the case of an emergency and living in Alaska often presents many emergencies.”

Keeney is glad to have students like Evan and Ethan in his class, ones who, as he states, “love to help people.” Upon successful completion of the ETT course and passing an Alaska state exam, Evan and Ethan will receive their certificates and continue to help those in their community.