Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers and volunteers from all around the northwest will come together today through Sunday, Feb. 28 at Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) for the Eastern Oregon EMS Conference.
Around 100 EMS providers from Eastern Oregon, the Oregon Coast, Portland area, Eastern Washington and Idaho will attend the conference, which is in its third year and provides an affordable training opportunity for current EMS providers from small rural agencies that fulfills required continuing education credits.
The conference, which is primarily sponsored by the Oregon Trail Fire Training Association, Life Flight and BMCC, will feature numerous classes and presentations, including hands-on demonstrations. Life Flight Network will present an airway class in the BMCC Health Education building on Thursday, using donated tracheas from Mike’s Mobile Slaughter from Stanfield for hands-on training. Neurologists from OHSU will provide a training on Emergency
Neurological Life Support on Friday, and Farm Equipment Headquarters will host a farm equipment extrication day Friday, sponsored by the Department of Public Safety & Standards Training, to train how to respond to injuries involving large farm equipment.
All instructors for the courses are donating their time to train participants at the conference.
In addition to the numerous classes, participants will also have an opportunity to meet with vendors that provide EMS and fire equipment and supplies, as well as attend a banquet Saturday evening at Wildhorse Resort and Casino. The banquet will feature keynote speaker Tim Dietz, a retired firefighter and founder/CEO of Behavioral Wellness Resources. Dietz, who is a licensed professional counselor, is an internationally-recognized speaker on crisis, grief, and staying happy and healthy in the emergency services professions.
BMCC is the fire and EMS training college for northeast Oregon. The next closest college to offer these training opportunities is in Bend. BMCC currently has around 10 students participating in its fire program, which is in its second year as a degree program. In addition, BMCC has around 25 students in its EMS certificate program.
Go online for more information and to register.
