Portage College offers free course to doctors and nurses

The Pre Hospital Care program at Portage College continues to strengthen and celebrate their relationship with the William J. Cadzow Health Centre in Lac La Biche.

Last month, the college department supplied a full two-day course with minimal cost to the nurses and physicians who attended. An offering of the Advanced Cardiac Life Support course was taught at the
college, with eight nurses and three doctors from the Health Centre participating and receiving their certification.

The course specifically caters to doctors and nurses working in the emergency room, but Martin Marshall, the Pre Hospital Care Program Coordinator explained that any healthcare professional would benefit from learning these skills.

“It’s a great course to have, all of our participants passed, and we received some good feedback from them,” Marshall said. “We’re looking forward to teaching another cycle of this course in April.”

To take the course outside of Portage College, nurses and physicians would have to pay over $500 for the training and exam, but thanks to instructors in the Pre Hospital Care department, certification came cheap. The only cost was a $20 charge to have the certification cards made.

“We’re very grateful that the hospital helps us out by allowing our students to have practicum placements,” Marshall said. “If we can help them out by offering courses and certification, we will.”