Date: September 27, 2021
Contact: lgarrett@tctc.edu

By Lisa Garrett

TCTC Partners with Bowers Emergency Services to Offer EMT Academy

PENDLETON --- Tri-County Technical College entered into a partnership with Bowers Emergency Services in Easley that will provide students with a paid pathway to a career as a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

Bowers Emergency Services recently established the Bowers EMT Academy and will sponsor eight students in a 10- week training program at no cost to the student.  The class will begin in late October.

The program will allow individuals to work as EMT apprentices while gaining skills and experience to become certified EMTs.  Classroom instruction is provided by the College’s Corporate and Community Education Division (CCE) instructors at TCTC’s Easley Campus.

“It’s a true hands-on introduction to the profession that pays the students while they are training to become certified EMTs,” said Carolyn Stewart, health care program director for TCTC’s CCE. 

Individuals will be paid for a 40-hour work week which will entail 24 hours of weekly classroom training along with 16 hours of driving experience, also paid.

Upon passing of the national registry exam, individuals are promoted to EMT basics and will receive a promotion within the company.

“The partnership is a way to address the shortage of EMTs across the state,” said Stewart. “There was a shortage prior to the pandemic but the current health care crisis has added to the workload of all health care employees, including EMTs, who often are the first on the scene,” she said.

Randy Bowers, president and CEO of Bowers Emergency Services, currently employs 24 full-time EMTs and says he could hire 10 more today. “There is a shortage of trained EMTs both nationally and locally,” he said. “Never in my 40+ years of working in emergency medical services have I seen a shortage like this. That’s why I am very excited about this partnership with TCTC. I look forward to hiring everyone who graduates and passes the registry.  This will help us to serve our area much better by addressing the staffing shortage, while improving our response time and deployment of vehicles,” he said. 

“You can’t find a better deal than this - getting paid while receiving on-the-job training,” he added.

 “It is an excellent way to recruit qualified and trained EMTs and to develop the top talent for the Easley area,” Stewart said.

She added that many of the individuals who are enrolling in EMT training are looking for a career change and their ages range from 18 – 55 years. “We’ve seen recent high school graduates, respiratory therapists and car salesmen in our classes. The common thread is that they want to help their communities,” said Stewart. 

The program is similar to the Medshore Ambulance Academy, established in 2019 in response to a workforce shortage. The College partnered with Medshore Ambulance to offer free accelerated EMT classes with free tuition, certification and testing.  The free, accelerated program for EMT training was the first of its kind in the area.

For more information about the Bowers EMT Academy, contact Randy Bowers at randy@bowersems.com.

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About Tri-County Technical College
Tri-County Technical College, a public two-year community and technical college serving Anderson, Oconee and Pickens Counties in South Carolina, enrolls more than 9,000 students annually and offers more than 70 major fields of study, including computer technology, industrial electronics, mechatronics, nursing, and university transfer programs. Tri-County boasts the highest student success rate among two-year colleges in the state and ranks in the top one percent nationally for successful student transfers to four-year colleges and universities. To learn more, visit tctc.edu.