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Free complimentary copy February 14, 2014 • Volume 1, No. 20
www.raytowneagle.com • 75¢
2013 Raytown EMT Class Sets New Testing Record EMT Training Requirements Exceed National and State Standards
On January 25, 100% of the students in the Class of 2013 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) passed their national registry exam on the first try. The student’s next step will be to take the second part of the test. The national success rate for passing both steps is only 64%. This feat is a testament to the success of the Raytown EMT training program that is under the direction of two Raytown paramedics, Megan Thurston and Brandi James. The accreditation for the program is based on many items, including how many students pass the test on their first try. The students who tested are Christiana Auer, Lauren Hankley, August Hatton, Dwayne Love, Jackson Montgomery, Angela Moore, Dusti Nadler, Michael Narcisse, Gavin Ross, Colby VanBebber, Hannah Warren and Nicholas White. Angela Moore was awarded a certificate of academic achievement for receiving the highest grade in the class. Part 1 of the National Registry exam consists of testing the students’ practical skills and patient assessments that consists of two stations. In one station, they are given random skills that they must perform correctly. For example, they may be asked to splint an injured limb, spinally immobilize a patient with neck and back injuries, or even resuscitate a patient in cardiac arrest. They are given two to three skills that are graded as either pass or fail. The second station is patient assessment. They are asked to assess either a medical or trauma patient without prior notice of which type of patient they will be assigned. The patient will have various traumatic or medical symptoms and complaints. The students must acquire a
EMT Class of 2013
thorough history, complete a proper examination, and provide appropriate treatment in order to pass. This station is also graded either pass or fail. After passing both stations, students are then free to schedule their cognitive exam, which is done at a computer lab. They must score a 70% or above to pass. Once they pass their cognitive exam they are officially certified by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and are eligible to apply for a state license, a requirement for employment. Raytown EMT training consists of lectures with written exams following each chapter. It starts out very lecture heavy, works its way into a blend of lecture and hands-on practice, then the last month or more is all hands-on training. Working with the equipment and
practicing assessments in different scenarios helps prepare students for certification. Raytown EMT training requires students to maintain test scores above 80%. While Missouri only requires students to complete 12 hours of internship on the ambulance, Raytown requires 72 hours and many students exceed that requirement. Raytown Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has hired many of its own EMT students over the years. Currently, 12 of 27 employees received their EMT training right here in Raytown and several have gone on to paramedic school. Those full time employees who received their training through the Raytown program are Sarah Brooks, Bryan Ferguson, Sarah Kreigh, Aaron Sharp, John Thurston, and Rachel Tinnin. Part time employees are Jeremy Bledsoe, Tiffany Chugg,
Angela Moore, center, holding certificate of academic achievement for receiving the highest grade in the class and trainers, Megan Thurston, right, and Brandi James, left
Jade Chun, Brad Goodspeed, Sarah Hood, and Andrea McGimpsey. Several Raytown Police Department employees have also been through the program. In 2005, the Raytown EMT program became accredited and offered its first class. The next class starting on February 18, 2014, will be the
program’s eighteenth class. Class enrollment for the upcoming class is full but the next class is scheduled for August this year. Raytown EMS offers specialty EMS programs such as ACLS, ITLS, AMLS, PEPP, CPR and GEMS. Contact us at emsedu@raytown.mo.us for more information.
Has Justice Been Served To The Murderers Of Ann Harrison? By Diane Krizek Editor Michael A. Taylor, a 47-year-old inmate at the Missouri state prison is to be executed on February 26. He was convicted of raping and murdering 15-year-old Ann Harrison after abducting her from a school bus stop in Raytown, Missouri, on March 22, 1989. His accomplice, Roderick Nunley, is also on Missouri’s death row. They admitted to being Ann Harrison under the influence of crack On that fateful day, Nuncocaine at the time of the ley and Taylor stole a car, crime. spotted Harrison at her bus
stop and forced her into the car. They drove to Nunley’s mother’s house where they raped her in the basement then tied her up and forced her into the trunk of the stolen car. Upon realizing she may be able to identity them, they decided to kill her and stabbed her ten times with knives they found in the kitchen then abandoned the car where she bleed to death about 30 minutes later according to the coroner. Michael Taylor recently filed a federal lawsuit in Tulsa arguing that several recent executions involving a lethal
drug intended for use in his execution indicate it would likely cause him “severe, unnecessary, lingering and ultimately inhumane pain”. In his order Wednesday, February 12, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern agreed to temporarily block an Oklahoma pharmacy from providing the drug to the Missouri Department of Corrections. The judge set a hearing for Tuesday and ordered the pharmacy to respond by Friday and stated his order would remain in effect at least until the hearing. Taylor was initially sched-
uled to be executed February 1, 2006, but was granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on the grounds that lethal injection in Taylor’s case could be cruel and unusual punishment. Missouri asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the stay and allow the execution but were refused, 6 to 3. At issue is the use of a new execution drug that Missouri is using. The Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment, and now there are new questions Continued on page 2