The CRH Auxiliary recently voted unanimously to donate $10,000 toward the paramedic scholarships. Assistant Fire Chief Chris Pixler was invited by Auxiliary co-president Shirley Rosebrough to make a presentation to the Auxiliary at their last official business meeting. He highlighted the pros and cons of increasing the training level of all AMTs in the Cushing Fire Department to the paramedic level.
The number of ambulance runs have increased over the years and approximately one third of the runs are in need of a paramedic. With the increase in training the paramedics will be able to perform medical services in the field that could be done by RNs in a medical setting. Medical services could be provided by paramedics that could possibly mean the difference between life or death.
Even though the citizens of Cushing have Air Evac located nearby, there are times the weather prevents them from flying. At these times, patients must wait for ground transportation that is staffed with paramedics.
It was the feeling of the Auxiliary that by donating the $10,000 they would be providing education for two firemen. They felt that by educating the EMTs they would be helping all the citizens in the Cimarron Valley region.
With the Auxiliary’s donation, the CRH Foundation has over $28,000 in the fund and an additional $2,000 in education vouchers from Central Tech in Drumright. The Foundation has made the commitment to educate the EMTs to the Paramedic Level in order to cover all shifts on a 24/7 basis. Chief Brent Kerr noted that it will take nine employees to cover these shifts and it takes over $5,000 to educate one EMT. With their education, the EMTs will sign an agreement that they will work for the
City of Cushing for a period of time. It will take over two years for the training to be completed and it will also take more than two years to generate these funds.
For more information or questions pertaining to the Paramedic Education Fund, please call Marian Shiever at (918) 225-8125.
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