Wow! I was so excited to see that this article found its way to EMSResponder.com. I just wanted to correct a few pieces of the article and let all of you know of the exciting things we are doing at Alamogotdo High School. Our program teaches an introduction to health careers in 9th grade. In 10th grade, the students earn their CPR and Advanced First Aid certificates. In 11th grade, the students take medical terminology and human biology. They also earn their EMS First Responder certificates. In 12th grade, the students earn their EMT-B and CNA certificates.

American Medical Response (ambulance service) and Med-Evac (life flight service) have been huge supporters of our program. AMR has provided clinical space and has even hired several of our graduates right out of high school! Currently, Cynthia Osborne (NMSU-A Instructor and program partner) and I are doing a pilot project to train New Mexico educators on starting and maintaining high school EMS programs. Thanks to the grant support of NM Region II EMS and the NM Department of Health Bureau of Health Emergency Management, we are doing the first stage of the training this summer. In the future, I hope to offer a summer an EMS Instructor Training Academy that will train high school teachers in EMS so that they can in turn train and certify their students. As you can see, this is a valuable and worthwhile venture. If you would like more information on the program and curriculum, please contact me at hbird@aps4kids.org.

I forgot to mention that my students are also trained in CERT - Community Emergency Response Team and formed a Jr. MRC - Medical Reserve Corps. I would be happy to visit with anyone looking to start similar programs in their own local high schools! You can see our MRC profile on http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/HomePage

Cynthia - it is so good to see you receiving press coverage of your program, a program that shows great leadership. Adapting EMS education for the future is a gift to all of us in EMS.