Nassau County EMS Academy Trains for Excellence

People who wonder how to enter the Emergency Medical field now have a resource, and it's close to home. The Nassau County EMS Academy is located on the premises of  in East Meadow, and people from all over the region, including Port Washington, are studying every day to protect the public.

"People who crave excitement and love working with people have an opportunity as an Emergency Medical Technician to be hands-on instead of working at a desk job," said Frank Chester, the assistant chief instructor at the Nassau County EMS Academy in East Meadow. "Many start off taking a basic EMT course and it lights their fire and off they go into careers in various fields of health care and medicine. Doctors, nurses, PAs, chiropractors. We've seen this tons of times," he added.

Despite the prolonged downturn in the economy, the healthcare industry is still going strong and emergency medical services is still an excellent field.  Many students also pursue this area to become volunteers so they can give back to their local communities.

Emergency medical services has its roots in military MASH units formed out of necessity during the Korean War. MASH stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Helicopters were used to evacuate the wounded to hospital settings for medical treatment. EMS or Emergency Medical Services started in 1966 under the LBJ administration to provide pre-hospital care for critical accident victims.

"The community of students is diverse, policemen and stay-at-home moms, firefighters and lifeguards, real estate agents and pilots," said Robin Dunn, a first deputy chief instructor. "Currently our oldest student is 78, a retiree. The minimum age is 18 at the time of certification. The ratio of the student population is 70 percent men and 30 percent women."  

The academy also gives a course for high school seniors in select school districts in Nassau County. At graduation, they will receive an EMT license along with their high school diploma.

Tom Geyer of Bayville has a master's degree in criminal justice. He is two-thirds of the way into the basic EMT course and is not yet certified but  has been volunteering at the Locust Valley firehouse.

"My father and two uncles were also EMTs and we volunteer together as a family," he said. "We all want to help our community.  I live just three blocks from the firehouse and it just takes me a few minutes to get there after I'm paged. " 

"The excellent  training that I've had at the academy has made me feel confident even when faced with a new crisis situation," said Port Washington resident Steve Interdonati, a NYC Firefighter and volunteer with the Mineola Ambulance Corps. "So far the most distressing experience I've had was when I was first on the scene to witness the aftermath of a construction accident. The victim lost his leg when a heavy safe door fell on him, crushing his leg and searing it off his body."

All of the staff are licensed with the New York State Education Department, a factor which makes  the academy unique in all of New York. It's a division of the Nassau County Vocational Education and Extension Board (VEEB).

Mark Frappied, the first deputy chief instructor, commented: "We have the highest number of students in New York State that get their certificates the first time that they take the state exam. Over the years more than 40,000 students have taken classes at the academy. Our division opened in Nassau County in 1970 and East Meadow is our newest home."

There are 21 different classes that run at once. The basic class takes just over five months to complete with twice a week classes and prepares students to become a CFR (Certified First Responder). The next level is EMT BLS Basic Life Support followed by an EMT CC - Critical Care. More advanced is the EMT - ALS specializing in Advanced Life Support.  Evening and daytime classes are offered. In addition, the Nassau County EMS Academy provides required re-certification training to currently certified and EMS providers whose certificates have expired. 

For more details regarding tuition and applications, contact the academy at 516-826-0802.

Class schedules can be found at www.veebems.org