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As Minnesota searches for answers to the current EMT shortage, a Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service program is well on its way in helping fill those vital positions.
Launched earlier this summer, the EMT-in-Training Program aims to combine both training and field experience to create a home-grown talent initiative that will contribute almost immediately.

The first cohort, dubbed the Great Eight by Mayo Ambulance staff and trainers, were into their third week on Monday with another seven weeks to go. In total, trainees will have concluded 320 hours of training while at the same time gaining real life experience.

“For being two weeks in, this is a very tight knit group,” said Assistant Supervisor Amy Wollenburg. “It’s very much a family atmosphere. They get along really well together, they are a very competitive group and they are very enthusiastic. So far they are really loving this class.”

The key to the program is retention.

Trainees are paid to train, giving those that might be on the brink of a career change the opportunity to sign on or make that career switch without the fear of not being paid.

For people like Hannah Goodemann, of Albert Lea, it proved to be the perfect incentive for coming on board.

“I’ve always been interested in the medical field,” she said during Monday’s session. “I was always interested and I was at a point in my life where I was looking for a new career and having a career that’s meaningful and helps people is important to me.”

“It opens up a career that otherwise would not have been accessible for me,” she continued. “I’m at a place where I can’t afford to not work.”

According to Wollenburg, this current group includes a diverse range of participants ranging in age from 18 to the mid-30s with no background in being EMTs.

The only one with trained experience is TJ Urban, of Austin, who was an EMR (first responder) in the Duluth area.

“I was an EMR for six, seven years through a law enforcement program,” Urban said, adding that the current training has been impactful.

Having this kind of training compacted into a training program has added to the experience.

“Getting out there in the trucks and helping people is something that drew me to this,” Urban said. “This is really convenient to get in here and do everything for eight, nine hours.”

Right from the beginning, trainees were heading out on calls. Among the first things accomplished was CPR certification and being fit-tested for their N-95 masks.

“They are already on the trucks, running calls,” Wollenburg said.

Primarily, they are being tasked to observe on these calls, but Wollenburg said there is opportunity to take part as well.

“The current makeup of the crew they ride with now, we have a paramedic and an EMT, and (trainees) are there to observe,” she said. “If they feel comfortable taking a set of vitals, maybe doing a brief interview with a patient, they can do that, but their main goals are to observe and see how a call goes down.”

Wollenburg also feels that it acts as an opportunity to try something new.

“There might be people in every city that really want to make a career change, but life circumstances don’t allow that,” Wollenberg said. “The program really allows us to make that change because it’s paid.”

“We can ensure our organization has access to some well prepared professionals that are willing to meet the Mayo Clinic standard of excellence,” she added.

That’s true for trainee Tyler Bos, of Austin.

“I just drove by and saw the opportunity and thought it was too good to pass up,” Bos said. “I would kick myself if I passed it up.”

As for the future, Wollenberg feels good about the direction of the program.

“I think it’s really going to be dependent on the outcome of this course, which I have a lot of faith in the eight we have out now,” she said. “Depending on the outcome of this, I think it’s going to be a great opportunity to expand this program to other areas in our service area that have recruitment retention issues.”