Collin College Trauma Day | Dallas News Live

Well, the scenario is staged, but the clock is ticking. This Saturday in McKinney, Collin College students will have to make snap decisions in a simulated emergency. Future EMTs, paramedics, and nurses will be working side-by-side to assess injuries, decide who needs care first, and also keep each other up to speed as the situation evolves. Greg Cox joins us live with a preview of what they're calling Trauma Day. He is the EMS Program Director for Collin. in college. Thank you so much for being here. I'm curious, what will students be asked to do at this particular exercise? Thank you very much for having me. Yes, so Saturday we are bringing together all of our allied health disciplines, our We started this program with our paramedic students so that they could have kind of a day where they're putting everything together and managing trauma patients. And then we decided, you know, we work together as a team in health care. So we need to bring all the other disciplines into this so that everybody can participate in what their discipline is. What is the hardest part for students once this simulation actually gets started? I mean, the idea is to sort of bombard them with a lot of sensory overload because that's what a real emergency is like because it puts them to the test. Yes, so they will be having two mass casualty incidents and then three single patient incidents. They will be making critical decisions on sorting out the patients who needs to be treated first, who is first off of the scene. Now they're actually transported in donated ambulances. When they arrive in our emergency department, our nursing students will be jumping in, our respiratory students will be jumping in. And the whole health care team will come together just as they would in a real emergency room. So if someone is watching and they're perhaps interested in EMS or another health care career, where should they start? What's your best advice? I would say you come to collin.edu and explore the program that you're interested in. Ours is the EMS department. And the other programs are also listed on our website. To prepare for this segment, I was looking up a little bit of data. So the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting that about 18,000 openings each year will open for EMTs and paramedics nationwide. What are ambulance services here in North Texas telling you about what are some of the hardest jobs to fill? I mean, there's a shortage as I understand it. That is correct. As here in Collin County alone, our area providers are projecting hiring at least 200 paramedics a year for the foreseeable future. So that's just in Collin County alone. So the entire North Texas region will have a similar explosive growth just like we are experiencing here in Collin County. What are employers telling you that they perhaps need most? The ability to communicate well, be empathetic with their patients, and be able to take direction. Bedside manner is so crucial when it comes to health care. I mean, you are dealing with a human being, someone's mom, sister, and I think sometimes that gets lost. I'm wondering, are there certain roles like EMTs or paramedics where students are actually getting job offers before they even graduate or they have their certifications because they're trying to get the best talent lined up? Absolutely, that occurs pretty much on a routine basis with each of our cohorts. We have students who are actively applying to area agencies and on average we will have probably six to eight students per cohort that are hired. While they're in school and walk right into a job as soon as they graduate. Greg Cox, the EMS program director for Collin College. It sounds like an exciting event this weekend. Fantastic real-world training for those students. Thanks for dropping by the show today. Thank you for having me.