Submitted Photo Kelli Fundingsland-Jaensch and Erin Klebe, students in Dakota College at Bottineau’s paramedic technology program, do hands-on training.

North Central North Dakota and other rural regions badly need paramedics. Dakota College at Bottineau’s paramedic technology program is helping to meet that need.

Erin Klebe, who is originally from Bottineau but currently lives in Minot, is one of the current students in the 14-month program offered by DCB in partnership with Trinity Health in Minot.

Klebe and her fellow students meet for hands-on classes on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the sixth floor of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Minot. They also take part in labs once or twice per month in the DCB classroom at Minot State University. Academic coursework is also delivered via interactive video. Distance delivery sites include Minot, Bottineau, Carrington, Harvey, Rugby, Mohall, Williston, and Watford City, according to the college.

All of the time spent on classes and study will pay off when Klebe walks across the stage with her cohort of classmates in May at the graduation ceremony. She said she will actually finish up her coursework in July and she will officially be a paramedic on July 29.

Job opportunities are plentiful for people going into this field and not just in the expected hospital and ambulance services. Program instructor Mary Jund said there are also opportunities to work in emergency services at oil field sites, fire departments, or in other areas.

Klebe had originally planned to apply for a job in Minot when she completed her training but her husband has been reassigned at his job. She has already put out feelers for employment in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which she found is also in need of paramedics.

Jund said some employers offer incentives for students to complete paramedic training.

Jund said students interested in the program go through a rigorous application process. The program medical director, instructors, and a representative from the college review applications and interview applicants throughout April. Classes for the new crop of students typically start in May.

Jund said class sizes typically range from six to 10 students.

Some of the students in the class have previous medical experience in the field, like one student who works on an area ambulance crew as an EMT, said Jund, while others go straight into the program from other college programs.

Many of the students continue to work full-time while they are completing the busy, stressful program and do a lot of commuting from as far away as Tioga or Sidney, Mont.

All of the students must have successfully completed EMT-Basic Certification before they are admitted to the program.

“It’s a very demanding program,” said Jund, who tells applicants to be prepared not to have much of a life for 14 months. “It’s going to take you away from family, your holidays, things like that.”

She said students going into the field need to enter the field for the right reasons. Paramedics will be called upon to help patients who are experiencing the very worst moments of their lives.

Jund herself went into the field later in life and said she was inspired after seeing how her nephew was helped.

Klebe said her own experiences prompted her choice of career. When she was 17, a serious illness meant she had to be flown to a medical center in Fargo by flight paramedics.

She realized becoming a paramedic would give her the opportunity to make a huge impact on the lives of others in need the way she was. She will also get the opportunity to work alongside a diverse group of medical professionals.

More information about the program can be found on the Dakota College of Bottineau website.