CVTC class allows RNs to work as first responders

Cheryl Bergmann, a registered nurse who lives in Pepin, knows there is a great need for help at the local ambulance service. As a medical professional herself, she wanted to help, but didn’t have the training necessary.

But Bergmann will soon finish a class at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire that is providing the training she needs, and she’s anxious to put it to work in her community.

“I heard that they didn’t have a lot of coverage,” Bergmann said. “Sometimes our ambulance can’t even cover because they don’t have the people to staff it. I thought as a nurse, I could help.”

Similar thoughts went through the minds of her fellow RNs, Lucas Peterke of Menomonie and Emma Flury of Boyceville, both of whom work at the Emergency Room at the Marshfield Clinic Hospital in Eau Claire. They are not only interested in helping as EMS responders but see the value in learning more about what responders they see in the ER regularly do.

The idea of enlisting RNs to help meet the needs of local ambulance services came from Mark Schwartz, emergency service continuing education coordinator at CVTC and director of the ambulance service in Bloomer. He found a strong partner at Marshfield Clinic.

“In Wisconsin, RNs are able to work in ambulances on their own licenses without EMS licenses,” Schwartz said. “But state statute says they must be trained in the procedures and equipment of the particular service they want to work for.”

That usually involves an RN-EMT 60-hour bridge class that many RNs see as a barrier. Schwartz’s idea was to create a streamlined class that focuses directly on the additional skills RNs would need to work on an ambulance emergency response team.

“I worked with the CVTC Nursing instructors to learn what skills the students learn in Nursing training and compared that with skills learned in EMT training,” Schwartz said.

The result was a 16-hour class that as far as Schwartz knows is the first of its kind in Wisconsin. The initial group of nine students is scheduled to finish Feb. 3.

Schwartz didn’t do this all on his own, however. His wife, Lexi Schwartz, is the EMS coordinator for Marshfi eld Clinic in Eau Claire. She advocated for her employer to support CVTC’s efforts.

Matthew Schneider, regional communications manager said Marshfield Clinic saw the value in the class in helping local EMS meet staffing needs, but also in enriching the experiences of nurses.

“There are nurses out there that can become better nurses if they know more about what first responders are doing,” Schneider said. “Our commitment was helping with resources to make this possible because there are benefits, and not just to our nurses.”