DES MOINES, Iowa — Every Wednesday is an early out day for Waukee schools, allowing kids to head to other activities or spend extra time at home. A total of 16 Waukee students spend their early dismissal learning to save lives.
Payton Schnurr is a senior at Waukee High School. There was one moment in her life that continues to inspire her to learn how to save others.
"This year, I was heading home from the fair and somebody got hit by a car. and I didn't know CPR or anything at the point. so we just had to wait. and it would have really helped that guy if we knew how to do CPR," Schnurr said.
Thankfully for Schnurr and 15 other students, DMACC and the Waukee Community School District has put together an emergency medical services course.
The course is one that EMS instructor and Waukee firefighter Chandler Thayer says is unlike anything they've done in the past.
"They get to work hand-in-hand, side-by-side with actual practicing EMTs and paramedics that are also firefighters at the Waukee Fire Department," Thayer said.
Another instructor and fellow Waukee firefighter Dave Oldham echoes this idea.
"They get a immersive experience because they get to actually see the firefighters and EMTs go out on calls as they're here working and working on skills, as well as they get to ask them real life questions compared to what they would do in the lab setting," Oldham said.
Waukee senior Malia Rasavanh hopes to be a doctor someday using some of the skills she's learned through the year.
"We learn CPR, how to bag a patient suctioning how to backboard, all the things like that," Rasavanh said. "Another big part of it also is that we have gone to clinicals in the emergency room, ride time shifts."
That real life experience is needed to show students what their future could be.
"At the end of this course, they will be eligible to test for the national registry, and hopefully within two or three months they are fully functioning EMTs [and] can start service right away if they so choose," Thayer said.