Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic

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PPL supports training for front-line health care workers

Student Aleyah D. Walter, of Hughesville, uses a Smartscope that produces a specific lung sound when placed against a preprogrammed "torso." The simulator, purchased through a PPL Foundation grant and based at Pennsylvania College of Technology's Wellsboro campus, can mimic a variety of symptoms and easily be transported to other training venues. At right is Timothy A. Weaver, noncredit instructor for basic life support and a 2011 Penn College alumnus in emergency medical services.

Future health care professionals have access to a learning tool that simulates respiratory symptoms likely to be encountered in the field, thanks to a $2,500 sustaining grant from PPL Foundation to Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The 2020 contribution enabled purchase of a lung sounds simulator, which mimics real-life scenarios essential to educating health care providers.

“PPL is pleased to partner with Penn College to help enhance training for current and aspiring health care professionals,” said Tracie L. Witter, regional affairs director. “We appreciate the efforts of Penn College Workforce Development to help improve the skills of our community’s front-line workers.”

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Emergency management student thrives outside comfort zone

Brooke M. Strubel, of Strasburg, Lancaster County, seen here at the Willing Hand Hose Co. in Montoursville, where she lived and worked while pursuing a Bachelor of Science in emergency management and homeland security at Pennsylvania College of Technology, also works full time at Ephrata Community Ambulance.

Juggling full-time college classes by day and full-time emergency medical technician work by night, Brooke M. Strubel is earning her Bachelor of Science degree in emergency management and homeland security in just two and a half years. For a young woman who recommends getting out of your comfort zone to achieve your highest potential, this past year, intensified by a global pandemic, has offered an ideal environment in which to enhance her people-centered skills.

“I never thought that I’d be working during a pandemic … but it’s an experience that I won’t forget,” said the soon-to-be Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate from Strasburg. “Challenges get you out of your comfort zone, and that is the area in which you will find yourself, your passions, your strengths and, yes, even your weaknesses. This is the area in which you will thrive and improve. Everything you learn advances your knowledge and leads to personal and professional growth.”

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Penn College paramedic program to offer hybrid learning option

Beginning in January, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s paramedic education program will offer a hybrid instruction option that combines in-person and online learning. The well-appointed labs used for hands-on learning include a crash car that can rotate to simulate accident scenes.

In January, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s paramedic program will launch a hybrid instruction option that combines in-person and online learning.

Designed to provide flexibility for EMTs who want to complete a paramedic education program while continuing to work, the lecture portion of the paramedic coursework will be both livestreamed and recorded for later viewing by those who use the hybrid instruction model. For students who prefer the traditional experience, lectures will continue to be held in-person.

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Pathways Scholarship assists transition to degree programs

Pennsylvania College of Technology has established a new scholarship to support students completing Workforce Development programs in practical nursing and emergency medical technician who wish to further their education.

The scholarship provides assistance for practical nursing graduates interested in the Nursing, LPN to RN program at Penn College and graduates of the EMT course interested in pursuing one of the college’s paramedic majors.

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Paramedics serve amid uncertainties during pandemic

Graduates of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s paramedic program continue to serve amid the pandemic. As quickly as the coronavirus has evolved, so has the profession’s daily practice.

In a word, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in “uncertainty.”

Kyle G. Stavinski, a 2015 graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s emergency medical services major who is a full-time critical care flight paramedic and educator for Geisinger’s Life Flight, part-time paramedic with Susquehanna Regional EMS and a part-time paramedic instructor at the college, says that, while danger has always been inherent to the work of emergency medical technicians and paramedics, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new causes for uncertainty.

Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Faculty & Staff Nursing & Health Sciences

Adjunct instructor named county’s public safety director

Hutchins (right), along with Dr. Gregory R. Frailey (left), medical director for the paramedic program, and John W. “J.J.” Magyar II, part-time faculty

Jeffrey L. Hutchins, an adjunct faculty member who has served various roles as a paramedic and firefighter since graduating from The Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center Paramedic Training Institute in 1997, was recently hired as director of the Lycoming County Department of Public Safety. “Hutch is in the process of quickly getting up-to-speed in his new role,” said Bambi A. Hawkins, learning laboratory coordinator for Penn College’s paramedic program. “He will be missed in the Susquehanna Regional EMS paramedic supervisor position, where he also served as a pre-hospital field preceptor for our paramedic students, but we are fortunate to retain access to his expertise and services for the part-time faculty role.”
Photo provided

Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Faculty & Staff Nursing & Health Sciences Physician Assistant

Frailey receives award for contributions to EMS

Dr. Gregory R. Frailey, the medical director for Pennsylvania College of Technology’s paramedic and physician assistant programs, recently received the Robert D. Aranosian, DO, FACOEP Award for Excellence in Emergency Medical Services.

The award is presented each year by the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians to a member of the organization or of the emergency medicine community who has made contributions to the field of EMS that furthered the operation, teaching or development of the specialty through actions, dedication and deeds. It is one of the organization’s highest honors.

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High-schoolers preview not-so-distant future at Career Day

Chef Craig A. Cian, associate professor of hospitality management/culinary arts, helps a student from the Lycoming Career & Technology Center to form pizza dough.

Career Day brought hundreds of ninth-12th graders to campus on Thursday to explore more than 30 activities offered by employees and students to help high-schoolers learn about the wide variety of career options available to them. The event is coordinated by the College Transitions and First Year Initiatives Office.

Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Nursing & Health Sciences STEM Students

Rescue readiness, downstream and high aboveground

Aboard a Williamsport Bureau of Fire rescue boat, piloted by the bureau’s Kenny Smith, fire engineer, students pull classmate Marissa L. Davis from the water. Davis is from Trafford.

Students in paramedic majors were led through a variety of hands-on rescue operations and tactical paramedic activities to wrap up the summer. The two-week training, led by the Central Area Fire Chiefs Association, included vehicle rescue and ropes rescue operations at the CAFCA training facility, confined-space rescue at Frito-Lay, and water rescue on Lycoming Creek and the Susquehanna River. “The goal of these sessions is to make these future paramedics more aware of the challenges and intricacies associated with the many aspects of vehicle rescue in an effort to make them better prepared to treat both the patient being rescued and the rescuers who may be injured during these often-dangerous activities,” said Christopher T. Boyer, director of Penn College’s paramedic technology programs.

Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic General Information Nursing & Health Sciences Physician Assistant

Students’ service to LLWS players, fans featured on newscast

Physician assistant student Reshma Sherpa, of Morrisville, N.C., is interviewed Wednesday by Morgan Parrish near Madigan Library's "Hometown Teams" exhibit. — Physician assistant student Reshma Sherpa, of Morrisville, N.C., is interviewed Wednesday by Morgan Parrish near Madigan Library’s “Hometown Teams” exhibit.

Eyewitness News reporter Morgan Parrish talked Wednesday with students in Penn College’s physician assistant and emergency medical services/paramedic programs about their imminent assignments during the Little League Baseball World Series. Parrish interviewed Reshma Sherpa, of Morrisville, North Carolina, at Madigan Library, where PA students had finished an exam; as well as Nick S. Dwyer, of Moon Township, and Carly Rae Stahl, of Lewisburg, at Susquehanna State Park, where EMS/paramedic students were training for water rescues. Parrish’s piece aired during WBRE/WYOU’s Wednesday evening newscasts.

Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Nursing & Health Sciences Physician Assistant STEM Students

Little League World Series provides learning opportunity

Kavitha R. Kolangaden and Jaclyn L. Casey, who graduated from Pennsylvania College of Technology with degrees in physician assistant in 2018, volunteer at the 2017 Little League Baseball World Series. Thirty-two Penn College students pursuing careers as paramedics and physician assistants will help provide health care at the 2019 LLWS.

Seven students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s emergency medical services/paramedic program, and 25 students in its physician assistant program, are set to be part of the health care team at the 2019 Little League Baseball World Series, just 3 miles from the college campus.

The nationally televised series runs Aug. 15-25 and draws tens of thousands of spectators each day to the Little League World Series complex in South Williamsport.

Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic Nursing & Health Sciences STEM Students

Service, safety on display as Life Flight makes its summer return

Students gather around one of Geisinger’s Life Flight helicopters after it touches down on the library lawn.

The Life Flight crew supervises as students strap a classmate onto a stretcher, detailing the protocol for loading a patient onto a helicopter.

Students in the emergency medical services and paramedic technician majors received a hands-on lesson in air ambulance operations when a Geisinger Life Flight crew landed one of the medical system’s nine helicopters on the Madigan Library lawn Tuesday. The crew taught the Penn College students about Life Flight services and safety protocols when on the scene of a medical helicopter landing. The experience was part of the course Operations and Rescue Practices for the Paramedic. During the summer course, students learn about crime scene awareness, medical incident command and emergency vehicle operations. With the help of area emergency professionals, they experience water rescue, vehicle rescue, rope rescue, confined-space rescue and more.

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From living space to makerspace, summer visitors have their hands full

Learning the skills and craftsmanship required of a builder in the newest pre-college offering: Building Construction.

A dozen residential Pre-College Programs and a daytime Creative Art Camp brought hundreds of young women and men to Penn College’s campuses in mid-June, providing hands-on entry to the myriad career opportunities reflected in the institution’s postsecondary curriculum. Keeping campers (and PCToday photographers) busy in recent days were these fun learning opportunities, some of which involved culminating projects: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience (ASPIE), Automotive Restoration, Aviation, Building Construction (new this year), Creative Art Camp, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs, Graphic Design Summer Studio, Grow & Design Horticulture, Health Careers, Information Technology and SMART (Science and Math in Real-world Technologies) Girls.

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Instructional space yields informative tour for state legislators

The college's newest (and most lifelike) medical mannequin is introduced by Christopher T. Boyer (left), director of paramedic technology programs, and Sandra L. Richmond (right), dean of nursing and health sciences. Getting a closer look are (from right) Sens. Yaw, Phillips-Hill and Ward – a registered nurse. — The college’s newest (and most lifelike) medical mannequin is introduced by Christopher T. Boyer (left), director of paramedic technology programs, and Sandra L. Richmond (right), dean of nursing and health sciences. Getting a closer look are (from right) Sens. Yaw, Phillips-Hill and Ward – a registered nurse.

Bradley M. Webb, assistant dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, explained the processes taught in three of the college's plastics labs: thermoforming, blow-molding and rotational molding. First stop? Thermoforming, where Webb shows how clamshell packaging is produced. — Bradley M. Webb, assistant dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, explained the processes taught in three of the college’s plastics labs: thermoforming, blow-molding and rotational molding. First stop? Thermoforming, where Webb shows how clamshell packaging is produced.

A pair of first-term state senators visited Penn College on Thursday, stopping by several academic areas in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences and the School of Industrial, Engineering & Computing Technologies. The tour, abbreviated by a stormy forecast (but no less valuable), took Sens. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) and Judy Ward (R-Altoona) to nursing, dental hygiene and three labs in the college’s ABET-accredited plastics program. The tour covered substantial ground: In addition to curricular information on all six schools, the legislators were apprised of the college’s integral corporate advisers, the focused global experiences of students traveling abroad, high-profile internship opportunities, and the essential contributions of equipment and expertise by business and industry. Also on the tour were President Davie Jane Gilmour; state Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the college’s board of directors; Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic operations/associate provost; Patrick Marty, chief of staff and assistant to the president for college relations; Zack Moore, vice president for government and community relations at Penn State; Jon Hopcraft, chief of staff to Phillips-Hill; and Senate photographer Christopher J. Guerrisi.

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Mock crisis authentically adds to interdisciplinary preparedness

Samer R. Doss, a PA student from Montoursville, listens to the heartbeat of dental hygiene student Megan P. Fitzsimmons, of Portville, N.Y.

Students from Penn College’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences and School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications joined area law enforcement, emergency management and health care professionals in a recent simulation at UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Regional Medical Center and a variety of other locations.

The college’s paramedic program has participated in the drill since its inception, and this year, the School of Nursing & Health Sciences decided to participate schoolwide to provide an interdisciplinary learning opportunity. The school had conducted its own Interdisciplinary Professional Experience on campus for several years.

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