North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By RUBEN LOWMAN
There will soon be a whole new set of local students who are equipped to help with life-saving missions in the area.
Thanks to the efforts of the volunteer members of the North Myrtle Beach Rescue Squad, local students with an interest in the medical field and aspirations of one day becoming a first responder now have a new program where they can learn firsthand from some of the best lifesavers the area has to offer.
The NMB Rescue Squad recently created their new Explorer Post program, where local youth aged 14-21 can take part in several different types of training so they can be equipped to explore many different professional opportunities in emergency medicine, as well as gain valuable experience in leadership while they’re at it.
The new program, which was the brainchild of rescue squad member and EMT Sean Richardson, held their first meeting on Sunday, Jan. 8, at Risen Christ Lutheran Church in Briarcliffe Acres. The new post was inspired by a cadet program within the Boy Scouts, Richardson said, and the idea to start one of their own has been something that has been kicking around the rescue squad’s members for some time. With guidance from NMB Rescue Squad Chief Randy Gardner and some vital assistance from fellow EMTs and volunteers Sarah Miley and Davis Talley, Richardson said they were finally able to launch the new student-led program.
“The meetings will be run by the youth,” Richardson said. “The adults are there to point the way and give them guidance on the lessons.”
Richardson said the squad has based the curriculum off of the American Heart Association, emergency responder (EMR) program, where students can become a first responder at 14 years old. The curriculum for the post includes classroom training and learning new skills hands-on, as well as ambulance ride-alongs, leaderships skills and adventure. Topics that the post explored at the initial meeting included the students gaining insight into the leadership and involvement they will participate in, a display of the squad’s training simulators, equipment and ambulance and receiving training in the Stop the Bleed course. As they move forward, the explorers will also be given the opportunity to provide actual medical support for functions held locally and further their advancement in the emergency medical services.
“The explorers can go through the national registry, which is what the EMTs and paramedics have to go through, to get certified to be able to work on the ambulance,” Richardson said. “So they can get the national registry with the EMR and they can do ride-time with us on the ambulance.”
“There’s also a blood-borne pathogen, which will be held on the next meeting on the 22nd,” Richardson continued. “We as EMTs and first responders have to take that blood-borne pathogen once a year. So they’re going to be going through the steps that initially can get them up to the stage where if they want to become an EMT whenever they turn 18, they will have the knowledge and basic skills to be able to go through the classes to become an EMT or if they want to turn their career into a medic.”
One of the goals of the post is to be able to get to the point where the explorers can act as First Aid personnel on Boy Scouts camping trips and outings, thus allowing the explorers to gain valuable hands-on experience.
After holding an open house last year to reach out to the local youth and get a read on the level of interest in the community, Richardson said they have seen a big increase in engagement with this new program. Last year, Julia Robair was the lone youth at the open house but the first meeting for the Explorer Post saw the number of local students swell to nearly double digits, with even more set to attend the second meeting this Sunday, Jan. 22, at 2 p.m. at Risen Christ.
The squad is working with local schools, including the North Myrtle Beach High School, to get even more students involved who are interested in the post, and they have also created a TikTok page for the squad and will be launching a new Facebook page for the program which will be run by youths themselves, Richardson said.
Anyone interested in joining this wonderful new program can stop by the rescue squad and pick up an application or email gardnerr@nmbrescue.com or call 843-272-3144.
