| Cochran
is employee of the month
Jennifer Cochran, EMT-A, was recently named the SMHC March Employee of the Month.  She
is one of the nine Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians that staff the
SMH Ambulance Service along with four additional EMTs. Cochran joined
the staff in 2007 and is on day shift call a minimum of four days per week,
plus various assigned weekends.
“As a child I was always interested in first aid and planned to become an EMT earlier in my life, but having children caused me to postpone it for a while,” said Cochran. “The thing I like most about this position is being a comfort to someone in their time of need.” She describes her responsibilities as providing pre hospital care of patients, as well as accompanying patients on interfacility transfers. Due to her advanced training she can provide intubation and start IVs in addition to other emergency tasks. “Our ambulance service covers a large area from Fenn to past Ferdinand, from the Joseph Plains area to the top of seven mile canyon on the east side,” said Charles Butler, RN, CEN, EMT-P, ER/EMS Coordinator for SMH. “We are dispatched via 911 from the Grangeville Sheriff’s Department dispatch. We also do transports to any hospital that a patient from SMH is referred to, including critical care transports with a nurse when weather will not allow flights to land on our helipad.” According to Butler, the SMH ambulance service responds to about 225 calls per year. He serves as the training coordinator for the local EMTs. Cochran has received Hazardous Materials training, National Incident Management System training and Incident Command System training. Idaho requires around 120 hours of class room instruction and supervised clinical practice before a person can take the EMT exam for certification. “Whenever Jennifer comes into the hospital in conjunction with a run she is thorough and obviously cares about the patient,” said one of the SMH customer service team members who helped select Cochran. Her nomination form reported that Cochran is “…always helping with everything; teaching without making a person feel stupid; always checks to make sure everything is done, and is very caring and has a smile for every patient.” She and her husband, Terry, have a son, Drew, who is a freshman at Prairie High School and a daughter, Danielle, who is a senior and is also an EMT. Anyone interested in learning more about becoming an EMT can contact Butler at 962-2310. |
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