Six women that took part in the Saint Paul Fire EMS Academy this spring officially graduated on Monday, marking the first time in the program's 14 year history that the academy was made-up of all women.
Since the program started in 2009, Saint Paul Fire EMS Academy graduates have gained exposure to careers in public safety and healthcare. The program reaches out to underprivileged youth in both the City of St. Paul and Ramsey County to provide paid education, training, and certification.
"This is the first all-female academy and in addition to that, all of the students are women of color, who also have children, and are also on state aid for low income families," said Saint Paul Fire deputy chief Roy Mokosso. "It's a unique opportunity to assist these young women in finding careers and giving them paid training that allows for certification and education that can potentially get them higher wage earning opportunities."
Mokosso says this spring's academy was particularly difficult. There were 18 total participants at the start, with only six remaining at the very end.
"The women who made it through this struggled with a lot of things, whether it was the pressures of being a mother, or struggling with food or shelter. Through this three month process they persevered."
Participants are prepped to take the National Registry EMT certification, making them eligible for the current Saint Paul Firefighter open hiring process or the upcoming BLS Division EMT hiring process.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wccoradio/news/weather/paul-douglas-warmer-again-in-minnesota-too-warm-in-oceans" headline="Paul Douglas' Weather Headlines: Beautiful week, getting warmer again plus "staggering" warming of the climate" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63887098"]They learn a variety of things including CPR, AED, and basic life-saving skills that would be utilized in an ER as a tech or on an ambulance responding for 911.
"They get exposure to a lot of opportunities in public safety and the medical education that allows them to sit for and take the national registry museum that allows them to become a certified emergency medical technician."
More about the Saint Paul Fire EMS Academy can be found here.
