By Lily Patrizi | Bomber Media
Senior Bella Brunelle is a student at the Auburn Career Center, where she is training in the EMS program to get her licenses and certifications to graduate and become an EMT with hopes of one day becoming an pediatric nurse.
Brunelle’s interest in becoming an EMT started because she has always been interested in medicine and always wants to help people.
Brunelle says she has never had a passion for regular school, so she has always looked to tr“Medicine has always been on the table for me,” said Brunelle. y something new and Auburn made that passion come true. “I wanted to branch out,” said Brunelle.
The EMS program at Auburn is a two-year long program. The first year involves career exploration and the second year of the program teaches students topics like anatomy, medical terminology, and the study of disease.
The program gives the students up to thirteen college credits. The program also certifies the students in CPR/first aid, defibrillation with an AED, Stop the Bleed, HIPAA confidentiality, career safe, and bloodborne pathogens. At this point, Brunelle has almost all of her certifications completed and over 60+ hours of clinicals.
The students in this program also get the opportunity to shadow at area fire departments, hospitals, and dispatch centers. Brunelle has been to multiple fire departments and participated in ride-alongs.
The students also get hands-on experience dealing with real emergency patients in a variety of clinical settings. During her clinical hours at the hospitals, Brunelle says she is constantly on her feet helping people.
In addition to gaining experience, Brunelle feels she is having a positive impact on those she is able to interact with. “Treating the patient with kindness and respect, goes just as far as helping them medically,” said Brunelle.
Brunelle is now in her last semester at Auburn Career Center, finishing up the EMS program and getting closer each day to achieving her dream of saving lives and helping others.▮
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Lily Patrizi is a multimedia reporter for Bomber Media and a senior at Kenston High School.