College prepares students with lifesaving skills
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers WHEN HELP IS NEEDED- Moorpark College professor Mark Komins, right, greets Mercy Air nurse Katy Hadduck and pilot Jack Winover after the helicopter lands during the Moorpark College Emergency Medical Technician Program drill day on Saturday. The exercises gave students a chance to learn what skills they needed to sharpen before finals in two weeks.

Students who take the Emergency Medical Technician course at Moorpark College will soon be able to practice lifesaving skills in a state-of-the-art ambulance.

This is "an extremely new and innovative training simulator," said Mark Komins, clinical director and instructor for the EMT program. The college is the only educational institution in the state that will own such a simulator for use in the classroom.

The device will give students the opportunity to work in the patient area of an ambulance without actually being out on wheels, Komins said.

Even without the latest equipment, which will be installed in Komins' class next month, the EMT course has already enabled many students to save lives on the spot, he said.

Emergency medical technicians can provide basic life support and noninvasive medical care in the field, said the instructor, who is also the Emergency Medical Services training coordinator for the Ventura County Fire Department.

"The class prepares you to immediately take action and maintain life. It teaches you basic life skills in emergency situations," said Sandra Ovadia, a Calabasas resident who plans to become a physician's assistant.

The training is rigorous, but it definitively prepares students for unpredictable events, she said.

Wasi Khursheed, an Agoura Hills resident who grew up in West Africa, doesn't plan to work in the field of medicine, but he already knows that lifesaving skills will come in handy when he's out hiking, climbing peaks and riding his motorcycle long distances on deserted highways.

While he was on a road trip from Agoura to Alaska last year, Khursheed said, he encountered a group of people who needed help. But since he didn't have any training he couldn't offer assistance. The experience led him to sign up for the EMT course so he wouldn't be caught off-guard next time, he said.

"I want to be prepared because I plan to continue to do adventures," Khursheed said.

The EMT students participated in a training exercise last Saturday that included a Mercy Air helicopter landing, a vehicle crash exercise and a mass casualty exercise.

Since many EMTs go on to become paramedics or firefighters or end up working in the medical field, there's always a need for new technicians, Komins said.

The profession is fulfilling because the goal is always doing something good for others.

"Everything is always different and every patient is unique," Komins said.

But the job also has rough moments. Technicians have to handle traumatic and deadly injuries and it's especially hard when children are involved, the instructor said.