Description of the Program

The Emergency Medicine Education Program offers instruction to students in cooperation with El Centro College of the Dallas County Community College District. The program offers two levels of courses, emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic. These courses prepare the graduate to function in emergency medical services positions in the pre-hospital environment.

The EMT course includes instruction in basic life support, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automatic external defibrillation, physical assessment, bandaging and splinting, traction splinting, spinal immobilization, airway management, oxygen therapy, pneumatic anti-shock trousers, and other noninvasive procedures.

The paramedic program prepares the graduate to function in an advanced life-support capacity with invasive skills, such as intravenous initiation, external jugular cannulation, endotracheal intubation, drug administration by various routes, intra-osseous infusions, electrocardiogram (ECG) rhythm identification, 12 lead ECG, defibrillation and cardioversion, noninvasive cardiac pacing, and chest decompression.

Both EMT and paramedic courses include classroom instruction, hospital rotations with emphasis on emergency department experience, and emergency ambulance experience. Current information can be obtained from the Emergency Medicine Education Program, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9134, (214) 648-5246