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The Western Institute of Emergency Education received their licence for their new Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) course on December 17. Instructors at the Vermilion school built the program from scratch and had it approved as an accredited program by the Alberta College of Paramedics Program in October, as well as the recent license they received from the Private Career College’s Branch of Alberta. “I know of 3 – 4 younger people who were interested in taking the course and had to leave town to get it. Now people don’t have to leave home and can get it right here in the community. Our delivery methods are flexible with part-time or full-time options,” said programs coordinator, Shane Croke. The program has not been available to the public in Vermilion for the past six years. According to Croke, in 2019 the new EMR standards will be put into place across Alberta. The six week introductory course is open to anyone interested in becoming a paramedic or medical personnel in the oilfield. “Anyone coming here will be getting the most recent standards of EMR education. It will allow them to get a taste of the industry and decide whether it is for them or not. As a person who went through the system myself along with the other instructors, with our past experiences and after spending many years in the field, we thought that we could prepare these students to be better prepared for the field,” said Croke who has worked in the field for 20 years and is still practicing as a paramedic. The course will offer a hands-on skill set and high fidelity simulation. It also includes a professional driving program that utilizes a virtual reality driving simulator. Other components also include psychological first aid. As a whole we are trying to offer more for our community. This course has the potential to bring people to our community temporarily as well as to bring people to stay,” said Croke.