(Jackson, Mn.)– This week marks the observance of EMS Week nationwide. Jackson County EMS Director Grant Landbo says this year’s theme is “we care for everyone”…
“Every single day, 24/7 365, EMS is out there in this country responding to everybody. We care. That’s why we do this job. And often times we get so wrapped up in caring about people and caring about the industry, in caring about the job, that we don’t look at ourselves and we don’t reward ourselves. It’s not to puff up our chests and say look at us and give ourselves an inflated ego, EMS Week is more focused on making sure that we’re taking care of ourselves and that we’re recognizing the importance.”
Landbo says they’re also using the week as a way to promote the need for EMS providers. In Jackson, he says they’re offering their EMS Apprentice program for those who think they may be interested in getting into the field…
“We’ve got two young ladies doing that for us now. We’re looking for more people to join our team as EMS apprentices. We pay minimum wage. You can come to the Ambulance Department and you do some ride-alongs as an observer and part of that is we want to give people somewhat of a taste of what this job is before they invest time and money in the education. National studies show that 66 percent of people quit their first year, because there’s really not a lot opportunity to really get your feet wet to ride on an ambulance before you are licensed to do so, and so that’s part of our thing, is that we want you to do at least 24 hours of ride-along observations, then we’ll sit down and we’ll have a discussion on if we mutually agree that this will be a good career for you and that you know what you’re getting into and if we both say yep, that’s going to work, we send you to EMT school. We pay for it, you don’t have to pay for it, we pay you to go, minimum wage hourly, just like what I had, and we have a contract that you have to work for us a year after.”
You can find more information and an application for the EMS Apprentice program at the city of Jackson website under jobs. Landbo says they’re also looking for those interested in hospital transfers, providing nurse level care on the road.
