# 4 Competencies/Framework (link to VERSO)
Emergency Medical Technician I
Emergency Medical Technician II
Firefighting I
Firefighting II
#5. Future Industry Trends
The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, has projected the percent change in future jobs by major occupational group for the next decade. According to their report entitled, Tomorrow’s Jobs, (http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm) service-related occupations will be one of the two fastest growing major occupational groups. Duties of service workers range from fighting fires to cooking meals. Employment in service occupations is projected to increase by 4.8 million, or 16.7 percent, the second largest numerical gain and tied with professional and related occupations for the fastest rate of growth among the major occupational groups. Food preparation and serving related occupations are expected to add the most jobs among the service occupations, 1.4 million, by 2016. However, healthcare support occupations and personal care and service occupations (e.g., fire fighters) are expected to grow the fastest, at 26.8 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
We have been very proactive in this course. This past summer, we moved to new fire fighter textbooks that will enhance our curriculum. These texts are available to every student to take home and purchase if they desire to do so. To supplement the text, we received, from Fireman's Fund, their prestigious Heritage Grant in the amount of $5000.00 We have used this grant to purchase a state-of-the-art DVD training series to complement this course. These training videos are so well done, we will be sharing them with our area professional firefighters. We also use alot of digital photos to enhance learning. Pictures are taken of students performing skills and reviewed with students to show different techniques of performing a particular skill. We follow the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards to provide training for our students that is equivalent to what any student enrolled in a firefighter course would receive regardless of school or community.
We also have many different things to assist with the instruction of EMT-B. We use posters in the classroom and lab that depict the human anatomy, and we have a skeleton to demonstrate the bone structures. Much of our course is science-based curriculum. In addition to this we have a great relationship with a local slaughterhouse that allows us to use organs from a pig to show the heart, lungs and other parts of the body. We also have a fully stocked moulage kit to simulate many different injuries.
We are very much in touch with the industry standards. <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif">Virginia </span></span></st1:place></st1:state>adopted the new National Standard to train firefighters effective July 1, 2009. After being accepted, this new standard was delayed due to not everyone being able to adopt it. We at MTC and in Rockingham County, had already developed a new course syllabus to fit this new standard. As a result, we were approved to teach the new fire fighter course under the new standard as a pilot program. Since I am a Lieutenant with the Rockingham County Fire Department, this gives us at MTC a huge advantage and ability to stay in touch with current industry trends. To get the program started for this school year, (the program's fourth year and my second year), I held many conversations with the Virginia Department of Fire Programs to make sure we were teaching to the state standards and meeting all CTE competencies. In addition to this I met with the Rockingham County fire chief and assistant fire chief to review course content and schedule them to come in and teach.
I not only teach the EMT course in this program but I am also involved in the local testing and evaluation of candidates. I have also assisted in the test development at the state level and have attended all updates for a new testing process adopted in the
Fire fighters from other departments come in to assist with many different exercises. Some of the examples are extrication, live fire training, foam operations and many other subjects.
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