Southwestern Community College public safety director Curtis Dowdle and EMS Program Coordinator Todd Doster knew you could depend on their recent Emergency Medical Technology graduates and now the state recognizes them, too. Every one of the 23 students passed their state exam.

Left to right: SCC public safety director Curtis Dowdle and Todd Doster, SCC EMS coordinator/ instructor;

“All of our 23 students passing attests to the high standards that Todd Doster, our EMS coordinator/instructor, holds the students to. They have to score 80% on our exams just to sit for the state,” said Dowdle.

“We do what we can to make sure they are ready,” said Doster. “Our four-month program is taught to not just state standards, but national standards, Upon completing our program, students are eligible to take both N.C. OEMS and National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician certification examinations.”

“We make sure each person who comes through our program is well qualified to serve the public,” said Dowdle. “We want our service area to be confident when they call. We want them to know that they will be receiving the best possible service.”

One of those students, Frank Cooper of Sylva, a volunteer with the National Ski Patrol at Cataloochee, said, “I took the program because I needed the training so I could better handle accidents and emergencies on the slopes.”

Cooper, who works at the Cherokee Boys Club, admitted it was “difficult working all day then attending a four hour class from 6-10 at night on Mondays and Wednesday, plus all-day Saturday. On top of that, we had 100 hours of clinicals.

“But the attendance in class was phenomenal…the other students were like me- we really wanted to be there and to learn. I’d describe myself as a non-traditional student, not just fresh out of high school, but I was far from the only non-traditional student in the class.”
According to Cooper, what really made the classroom interesting was the work experience that the various instructors brought with them and the team approach they used in blending curriculum and experience.

“We train our students in CPR but it’s one thing to train on a mannequin in the classroom,” said Doster. “It’s another thing to administer CPR in an ambulance that’s rushing down the highway, going over bumps and around curves. Sometimes you have to use one hand to hang on and the other to administer CPR. We give them that real-life, hands-on kind of training.”

While training also includes simulations like car wrecks, construction accidents, medical emergencies and repelling mountain sides to retrieve fallen hikers, Dowdle and Doster take their students to the limit.

“We make the students think,” said Dowdle, “and to be quick on their feet. For instance, at a car wreck they don’t just treat the casualties. First they have to determine what led to the accident. Was it a heart attack? If so, they have to address both of these problems simultaneously.”

SCC instructors bring years of actual field experience into the classroom with them. The instructors for the recent EMT-Intermediate class, for instance, have a combined total of over 80 years of EMS experience between just four instructors.

“I know the success of the EMS program lies mainly on the instructional staff,” said Doster, who has worked 13 years as an EMS. “I depend on them very much and they always come through for me. This is not something one person can do by himself.”

“There’s so many aspects to the program that contribute to its success rate. For certain, our highly-qualified instructors are a key factor,” said Dowdle. “Another factor is the partnership we have with the area medical facilities who allow our students to have hands-on, hospital-setting experience during the clinical part of their training.”

“It’s not an easy program; I’ll just tell you that up front,” said Doster. “The students have to be really motivated. Our job is to help spark and nurture that motivation.”

For more information, contact Dowdle at 369-0591.

###