PRESQUE ISLE – The dream of establishing a resource center on the Northern Maine Community College campus for area medical and emergency care professionals in Aroostook County who treat pediatric patients is a step closer to reality thanks to a $12,684 grant from the Emergency Medical Services for Children State Partnership, a division of the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The funding to purchase equipment for a local pediatric repository, to improve curriculum through public education, and for regional continuing education in pediatric topics was awarded to NMCC to help meet a need expressed by area hospitals and emergency medical service organizations.
“Our vision is to become the information, equipment, and education center for pediatric care in this area,” said Daryl Boucher, coordinator of the NMCC emergency medical services (EMS) program and nursing faculty member at the College. “The Rural Pediatric Education Resource Center will provide area hospitals and EMS providers a local resource and expertise in helping develop pediatric programs for their organizations.”
Specifically, the grant allowed NMCC to purchase pediatric training equipment that will be available to assist in the education of EMS providers at all levels, as well as hospital emergency department and pediatric personnel. The equipment, which is housed on the Presque Isle campus, will additionally be used by students in the College EMS, nursing, and other allied health programs.
According to Boucher, the material obtained through the grant is the first substantial purchase of pediatric training equipment in Aroostook County in several years. Among the new items recently received by the College are a cardiac monitor, rhythm generator, laryngoscope blades, and replacement accessories.
The equipment purchase accounts for half of the total grant award. The remaining funds will be used to offer educational programming for area EMS personnel and health care providers, NMCC students, and the public in general.
Under Boucher’s direction, NMCC will plan, develop, and administer 12 educational sessions in pediatric topics to be held throughout the region. Funding from the grant will support educational materials, lesson plan development, instructor time, and travel expense.
The courses, held monthly, will cover various topics in pediatric emergency care and will be provided in a number of different communities throughout Aroostook County.
“Many of the first responders and emergency medical technicians in northern Maine work for volunteer services, and find it difficult to attend full-day educational sessions outside their service coverage area. Service directors expressed concern over being able to provide coverage to the small communities during the time these providers were away taking a course, so we felt it important and necessary to take the classes to them,” said Boucher. “It is our hope that by the end of the grant contract year, every licensed provider in Aroostook County will have attended at least one, three-hour pediatric continuing education session.”
A third funding component in the grant is designed to support additional public education on pediatric care issues. The money will be used to enhance pediatric teaching projects and community health and safety fairs undertaken by NMCC students each semester.
Specifically, the grant will allow for improved participation by children, and allow more NMCC students to participate, thereby increasing the number of available topics and sessions.
NMCC has been a provider of high quality EMS, nursing and health care education in northern Maine for over two decades. For the past eight years, through various educational initiatives, the College has focused on improving the care provided to the children of Aroostook County.
This latest initiative, to develop a Rural Pediatric Education Resource Center, was started in 2005 with the development of the Megan Bradstreet Pediatric Critical Care Transport Fund.
Early initiatives included working collaboratively with area hospitals and EMS agencies to bring quality educational programs such as the UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) Critical Care Transport Program and the Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care Transport program to Aroostook County.
