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Recent graduates of the Cherokee Nation paramedic training program.

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Fifteen people recently completed an eighteen-month class for certification as a Paramedic through the Cherokee Nation EMS training program.

"The class began with twenty-one students back in March of 2002", said Bill Humphrey, Cherokee Nation EMS instructor. "Most paramedic classes only graduate about five or six students and this class far superseded the norm by graduating fifteen."

Emergency medical professionals from Muskogee, Tulsa, Sallisaw and Arkansas spent two days a week for the past 18 months learning how to become a paramedic.

"This is a quite an in-depth course", Humphrey said. "The skills learned in this class are more involved skills that allow for students to be able to handle a situation with greater care."

All participants were already registered Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and had successfully completed anatomy and physiology from a university, college or through the Cherokee Nation EMS Training Program.

"Any additional training can enhance an EMTs knowledge", Humphrey said. "The more knowledge one has the better they can be at assessing a patient’s treatment."

"I thought this was a very challenging course", said Jordan Stevens, Muskogee County EMT and recent course graduate. "Completing this course was very rewarding and an overall great experience."

The next paramedic class will begin in March of 2005. EMT refresher courses will begin on January 12 for EMT Basics, Intermediates and Paramedics.

For more information on upcoming training offered through the Cherokee Nation EMS, please call 918-458-5403.

Related contact information:

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager Cherokee Nation - Public Affairs Phone 918-456-0671 (Ex.2324) E-mail: ldaugherty@cherokee.org

Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation Natural Resources Specialist Phone: 918-456-0671 (ex.2843) E-mail: bpeak@cherokee.org