Sixteen personnel from Kachemak Emergency Services Area, Western Emergency Services Area, Cooper Landing Emergency Services and Seldovia Volunteer Fire/Rescue recently completed an Emergency Medical Technician 1 (EMT-1) program. Classes began on March 9, and participants spent 200 hours learning life-saving procedures to treat patients suffering from medical emergencies and traumatic injuries. Many of the students are volunteers with their respective agencies, who not only volunteered their time to take the program, but also volunteer their time to respond to emergencies to help their communities.

The program was a joint effort coordinated and taught by Chelsea Marsh of KESA. Clay Adam from Cooper Landing, Lori Marsh from WESA, and Jan Yeager from Seldovia also taught many of the individual topics. The students have taken their Alaska State EMT tests and are waiting to receive their official certification.

All of the departments involved rely heavily on volunteers to provide fire and EMS services to the residents and visitors of the southern Kenai Peninsula. This cooperative effort by the four agencies puts 16 more personnel in the field to help fulfil that mission.

For information on how to join one of these departments, contact KESA at 907-235-9811; WESA at 907-235-6700; CLES at 907-595-1800 ; or Seldovia at 907-234-7812.