Public Safety Group Blog

Can NAEMT's AMLS and PHTLS programs be used in both EMS initial education and continuing education? According to Shawn Tatham, EMS and Fire Science Program Coordinator for Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, introducing the continuing education concepts from AMLS and PHTLS into his initial education courses has helped better prepare his providers for the field.

What happens when a global pandemic upends your traditional EMT and Paramedic courses? 

If you're Malinda Whipple, EMS Program Director and Instructor at Dixie University in Utah, you use it as an opportunity to pivot to "flipping" the classroom. After transitioning from a traditional classroom format to the EMT Flipped Classroom and Paramedic Flipped Classroom, students came prepared to discuss the material they learned at home and Whipple was able to use valuable in-class time to efficiently address difficult concepts and questions. Read on to learn how the new Flipped Classroom course structure helped with student engagement, pass rates, and instructor longevity...and why Whipple's students told her that "the Flipped Classroom model was 100% better than the traditional classroom learning model." 

Will using online firefighter training resources in addition to traditional classroom learning improve your students pass rates on fire certification exams? If you were to ask Fire Lieutenant Lisa Becher, Fire Instructor at Madison College in Wisconsin, the answer would likely be yes. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, the self-described "in the classroom teacher" shifted her approach to include online learning resources and saw her students thrive with a variety of tools to learn the course material. Her recent Fire Fighter I and II class achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on both the Fire Fighter I and II exams, a first for the high school program. According to Becher, "I’ve found that I really like the online program, and I will incorporate it into my classes even after COVID is over."

To be safe and effective, new and experienced technical rescue professionals need to be trained on the latest technology extrication considerations, including those involving alternative-fuel vehicles. Over the last few years, vehicle technology has rapidly changed and the number of hybrid cars on the road is growing. Fire fighters and rescue professionals may soon encounter many more alternative-fuel pickup trucks too, now that Ford, maker of the top-selling F-Series trucks, recently unveiled a new F-150 electric truck. 

The all-new Revised Second Edition of Vehicle Rescue and Extrication: Principles and Practice will help ensure your students are up-to-date. Read on to learn more.

As part of the Jones & Bartlett Learning Public Safety Group Author Interview series, we had the chance to talk with James Angle about the Fifth Edition of his book, Occupational Safety and Health in the Emergency Services, to learn more about his experience, what’s new in the book, and why he thinks it’s a valuable contribution to the fire service community.

It's undeniable how entrenched the fire and emergency services are in each local community. When a tragedy occurs, whether on a large scale, such as a devastating weather-related incident, or on a smaller scale, such as a car accident or residential structure fire, emergency responders are the first on scene. It is also the role of EMS and Fire personnel to find ways to prevent future tragedies when possible and restore a sense of order in the community. One way fire and emergency services organizations are advancing in their prevention tactics is by introducing community risk reduction (CRR) programs into their day-to-day activities.

Have you been tasked with making CRR a priority in your department, but are not quite sure where to start, what CRR really means, or why it matters? Read on to learn more.

Will choosing the right training materials really change how effectively you administer your emergency medical service and fire service training courses? According to Gray Young, Chief of Training at South Bossier Parish Fire District #2, this could very well be the case. From textbooks to audio books to online tests and instructor resources, Young has seen first hand how quality training materials impact his students' success and his ability to ensure they receive the best learning experience.

EMS Week kicks off on May 16! To celebrate, we’re providing special offers all week on key resources for emergency medical service practitioners.

As part of the Jones & Bartlett Learning Public Safety Group Author Interview series, we had the chance to talk with Chuck Smeby about the all-new Third Edition of his book, Fire and Emergency Services Administration: Management and Leadership Practices, to learn more about his experience, what’s new in the book, and why he thinks it’s a valuable contribution to the fire service community.

What happens when a global pandemic forces your EMS classes online?

That's exactly what happened to Lee Gillum, Education Coordinator at Montgomery County Hospital District in Texas. For years, Gillum used EMS textbooks from the Public Safety Group in his courses and never found a need to explore the EMS online training resources available on the Navigate platform. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 and Gillum was forced to find a way to run his courses remotely to ensure his students were safe and staying on track with their training.