Tyler, Texas (June 16, 2022) — UT Health East Texas EMS will host about 20 emergency medical technicians from the island of Guam this summer so they can receive clinical field training to become accredited in advanced life support techniques.
“They’re going to experience high performance 911 training through UT Health East Texas EMS and receive training from paramedics who are actively working in the field,” said TC Howard, chief operating officer of the School of EMS, which helped coordinate the effort.
Howard said he was contacted by Guam Fire Department officials more than two years ago because they wanted to transition from basic care to a paramedic level of care. The government of Guam, in conjunction with Guam Fire Department and Guam Community College, was seeking to raise standards and bring their team members up to the advanced life support level, Howard said, so the School of EMS worked with those entities and the Guam EMS Commission to help develop paramedic protocols and education.
“It’s a much higher level of care for their citizens,” he said. “It’s better pre-hospital care and it’s getting more care out to the citizens at first contact rather than waiting until they get to the hospital.”
Howard said while much of the training is performed online, the School of EMS also sent instructors to Guam, an island and organized unincorporated territory of the United States in the Pacific Ocean, to conduct live training sessions. The final component is a capstone internship required to achieve accreditation, and that will be conducted this summer with UT Health EMS.
“It’s a matter of them working on site and learning from and working with high-quality individuals that work for a high-performing 911 system who are used to doing this day in and day out so they can take this back to Guam and utilize it,” Howard said. “The School of EMS chose to put them with UT Health East Texas EMS because it’s a high-quality system and because of the trust behind it.”
The first group arrived from Guam on June 15 and will stay for approximately two weeks. Groups will cycle in throughout the summer to complete their training.
“We are pleased to partner with the School of EMS and the Guam government to show best practices and advanced life support training,” said John Smith, CEO of UT Health East Texas EMS. “We hope that their experience with our teams helps them bring the highest level of care to their citizens when they return.”