Students earn life-saving CPR certification through Boyceville partnership
MENOMONIE – On a path to become a physician’s assistant, Emily von Wald seized the chance to earn CPR certification through a new partnership between a University of Wisconsin-Stout student health organization and the Boyceville Community Ambulance District.
Von Wald, a senior majoring in applied science with a biotechnology concentration, was among 10 members of the UW-Stout Pre-Health Society who mastered basic life support and automated external defibrillator use skills. The training, a new opportunity for society members, was organized by SPHS President Patrick Best, who also is an advanced emergency medical technician for the ambulance district, a CPR instructor and a sergeant in the Wisconsin Army National Guard 135th Area Support Medical Company, based in Waukesha.
“The purpose was to get some club members certified in a very important skill that would be required for all health care providers to maintain,” said Best, an applied science-biotechnology major. “Another goal was to form a bond between the Boyceville Community Ambulance District and the UW-Stout Pre-Health Society that could be beneficial to both.”
Best, a senior from Wheeler, and other instructors from the ambulance district taught the course.
“Basic life support is the most universally recognized certification in U.S. health care,” he said. “Members who are certified will be able to translate those skills into possible real-life scenarios where they could be the difference between life and death for a bystander with a health-related issue.”
Such American Heart Association certification is recommended for von Wald’s intended career field.
“I plan to get my EMT certification after graduation as my next step to becoming a physician’s assistant, so any certifications like this are helpful,” said von Wald, a senior from Owatonna, Minn. “Also, being CPR-certified is extremely important because anything can happen at any moment, so knowing what to do is the first step to saving someone’s life.”
SPHS prepares members for applying and getting accepted into the professional school of their choice. Applied science prehealth majors at UW-Stout include premed, pre-dental, pre-physician’s assistant, pre-vet, pre-pharmacy, pre-physical therapy, pre-occupational therapy and pre-chiropractic. The organization also holds study sessions for entrance exams into those professions, hosts American Red Cross blood drives, participates in Relay for Life, host Stress Awareness Week during finals and organizes a Graduate School Fair.
