“Earn While You Learn” EMT Training Launches

New Haveners used to have to pay to learn how to save lives. Now, they can get paid to do that emergency medical training under a new American Medical Response program called Earn While You Learn.

The ambulance and emergency response company announced the launch of the program in New Haven on Tuesday afternoon at a joint press conference with city officials.

Adults over the age of 18 with a high school diploma or GED can apply for the training program here. Applications are due May 1.

This kind of program would have been helpful in 1998 for now-Deputy Chief James Watkins and his peers. At age 23, Watkins was one of the lucky few to get hired into the New Haven Fire Department. The department paid for his required emergency medical technician (EMT) training when he went through the rest of the state certification process.

Others paid $2,500 out of their own pockets for the training, while taking time off work.

“This program gives applicants a huge advantage,” Watkins said.

The EMT training was as difficult as his most challenging days in college. He had to set aside time to study the human body and learn about what medicines might interact with one another and why. It’s all doable with hard work, Watkins assured potential applicants.

The eight-week Earn While You Learn Academy will start in the Elm City on June 28. American Medical Response (AMR) will pay students for the hours they spend in class and training and will cover books, testing and certifications fees. The class hours are Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

By the end of August, the 15 to 20 students in the inaugural class will be ready for jobs in health care, police and fire departments.

There is also a pathway to work at AMR. After they complete the program, students can work part-time with the company for a year at minimum and are eligible for full-time positions as they open up.

AMR is part of the emergency response operation in New Haven. For example, the company sent medics and ambulances when overdoses suddenly spiked on the Green in 2018.

Getting more New Haveners trained in emergency medical treatment helps the city tackle its ever-increasing, medical 911 calls. Out of all the calls to the New Haven Fire Department each year, roughly 85 percent are for medical emergencies.

The number of medical calls spiked after the first wave of Covid-19 cases, according to Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana. People had delayed routine medical treatments out of fear of going to the hospital and now need emergency services.

The program also helps with the strained city budget. If a new fire department employee is already a trained EMT, for example, that saves the city the cost of training them.

AMR launched its first Earn While You Learn Academy in Buffalo, NY in 2018. Since then, about 47 percent of Buffalo’s AMR workforce came through the program. It boasts a relatively diverse class of graduates; over half of the graduating class are women and 51 percent are non-white.

Both Fontana and Watkins spoke about the rewards of EMT work. Watkins often gets recognized in grocery stores by other shoppers grateful that he saved their relative’s life.

Fontana thought the class would be useful for anyone regardless of their career aspirations. When his department finds someone in tears next to a family member collapsed on the floor, they often say they wish they knew what to do. This is that chance to learn, he said.

AMR brought along another perk of the academy, therapy-dog-in-training Riggs. The one-year-old labradoodle hangs out with all the first responders at the AMR office to help them with the stress of their occupation. Students would get to help train Riggs in the actions he knows — sit, stay, high five, and go do chest compressions. (So far, Riggs has practiced the CPR-like movement on mannequins.)