Burlington County Freeholders and Rowan College at Burlington County provide training programs for EMS

Burlington County Freeholder Mary Ann O’Brien recently announced that the Board of Chosen Freeholders will be utilizing their shared services agreement with Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) and their partnership with Virtua to provide enhanced and expanded emergency medical services (EMS) training programs to first responders and EMS personnel serving Burlington County.

In addition to basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training courses, this partnership will also offer refresher courses along with a variety of electives to support the continuing education of active EMTs throughout the region.

“By offering these programs through RCBC and their partnership with Virtua, our emergency medical responders can take advantage of world class training centers and expert professional instruction; as well as having the option to take courses in traditional classroom settings, online or via satellite locations, and in state-of-the-art simulation centers” O’Brien said.

This initiative will take effect at the start of the fall 2016 academic year.

“Supporting our emergency medical responders is always a priority and we are confident that this partnership will elevate their training and capabilities, ultimately allowing them to provide even better service and care to our residents,” O’Brien said.

Virtua has a long-standing tradition of providing emergency medical serviced education and training. Through this new partnership with RCBC, Virtua’s comprehensive training programs will include a full range of classes ranging from initial EMT training, EMT/basic life support continuing education, paramedic training, and paramedic/advanced life support continuing education.

“High quality EMS education and training is the foundation to the ability of our responders to provide the best care to the residents of the community,” said Scott Kasper, Virtua assistant vice president of emergency services. “We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the County, with RCBC and with each of the BLS squads to ensure that their members have access to the best education in the region”

O’Brien said the Freeholder Board is proud to announce that it will be covering the cost of course materials for initial participants in the new EMS Training courses as the program rolls out.

“This amounts to a $200 scholarship for many of our brave and dedicated first responders,” O’Brien said. “We hope that this new and exciting initiative will lead even more of our residents to consider serving our community as emergency medical personnel.”