The primary purpose and mission of the Danville Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc. (DLCS), now in its 66th year, is “to save life, administer first aid, and teach safety”. These words, penned by some our charter members, were placed on our letterhead, and continue to be an important part of our mantra today. Because medical training and quite frankly, community expectations of the medical care available, the Crew has pressed forward to expand the scope of our training, and making it available to the community at large.

HISTORIC OVERVIEW

As state mandates increase the training requirements on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, the need for certified trainers and training centers have become imperative. To this end, many forward thinking members of the medical community, the DLSC, and the citizens at large found that in order to provide and meet the training requirements imposed, it was necessary to establish and maintain a state of the art training center that is recognized and accredited by the Commonwealth. To that end, the Danville Area Training Center was born.

Currently, the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) in Virginia has established several levels of training that establish tiers of patient treatment. Each higher-level program reinforces these basic skills and adds specific additional lifesaving techniques. The first level is First Responder. This is a very basic training level which requires minimal amounts of training.

The next level is EMT Basic which is the most common level of training held by providers in Danville and Pittsylvania County. The EMT is trained to provide the basics of the pre-hospital emergency medicine.

The term “advanced life support” refers to these basic level providers who take several hundred additional hours to learn more diagnostic skills, medication therapy and finally the ability to monitor cardiac rhythms and treat them accordingly.  These skills are practiced by EMT – Intermediate and EMT – Paramedic level providers.

Because the standard of care for our citizens has progressed to higher and higher expectations, the subsequent levels of medical training and competencies required to maintain this training has also increased. In addition, the OEMS has progressed to the point that training must be conducted by accredited institutions.

ACCREDITATION

Accreditation is both a status and a process. As a status, accreditation provides public notification that an institution or a program meets standards of quality set forth by an accrediting agency. As a process, it consists of ongoing evaluation, and frequent program improvement. Accreditation is a signature of training excellence achieved through strict compliance to the highest standards.

Through the process of accreditation, the Office of Emergency Medical Services assesses programmatic compliance with published administrative and academic standards. Providing appropriate standards, guidelines and regulations are key elements in achieving these goals. Additionally, accreditation and a commitment to require both ethical business and educational practices, promotes organizational effectiveness.

Accreditation examines and evaluates resources, processes, outputs, and outcomes of existing programs, departments, or schools that are parts of an institution following Department standards. A training institution is defined as an established organization or foundation that gives practical, vocational, and technical instruction. The accredited unit may be as large as a college or a school within a university. An accredited unit may also be as small as a curriculum within a discipline, or even EMT training programs within professional schools or other specialized or vocational institutions. Some accredited programs may be free-standing in their operations, as well as EMT educational programs within non-educational settings such as hospitals.

PROACTIVE LOCAL STRATEGIES

The move toward accreditation has caused communities to look at how training is provided to its EMS providers. Of course, there is a cost associated with accreditation. Getting the most “bang for the buck” entails reaching out, networking, and resourcefulness. This includes forming partnerships and alliances with other local agencies with similar needs and goals.

In conjunction with Danville Community College (DCC) and our DATC, the instructors and equipment are being made available to provide essential technical and medical training necessary to carry out competent and compassionate patient care. This includes the Emergency Medical Technician course (EMT) and the EMT-Intermediate course. Both earn college credit and are taught every Tuesday and Thursday night during the fall and spring semester. Continuing education “Required Topics” classes are also taught every Wednesday night during the fall and spring. It is our vision to work toward expanding these opportunities into daytime hours to accommodate those who work shift work.

In addition, the DATC is moving toward making available CPR classes every month for any citizen or citizen group that would like to learn CPR. We also intend to provide the CPR for Health Care Providers course monthly as well. More and more, we are receiving requests to provide these services.

The current trend indicates that many business entities require medical training for their staff. According to our sources, state regulations, along with insurance incentives and mandates, are requiring that businesses and industries provide on-site medically training personnel. The DATC is poised to provide this service to our community, utilizing highly trained and experienced instructors and state of the art equipment.

Questions about course availability can be directed to our staff by calling (434) 792-2739.