Ness County EMS and USD 303 partnered during the 2017-2018 school term to offer an Emergency Medical Technician course for students 17 and 18 years old. Passing the course is the first step in preparing students for the opportunity to challenge the National Registry Exam. There were only three high school EMT courses offered throughout the state during the last school year. The other high school courses were offered in the Wichita area. Five students successfully passed the course and are eligible to challenge the exam for the opportunity to become Nationally Certified EMTs. Class size was limited to six students in order to conform to Kansas Board of EMS regulations that provide a student instructor ratio of 6:1. Recently, four of the students attended a state exam site in Hays and took the practical exam. The exam consisted of the following skills: Airway Management-Administering Oxygen, Airway Management- Using a BVM for an Apneic Patient, Code Blue with AED, Trauma or Medical Assessment using Interventions, Immobilization Using a Long Board, KED/ Short Board Immobilization, Bleeding and Shock Treatment, and a Random Skills Station. We are pleased to announce that all four students passed all skills stations on the first attempt. They are now preparing to take the written exam. Upon successful completion, they will become Nationally Certified Emergency Medical Technicians. The four students who have completed the course and the practical exam are Baylee Holecek, Taylor Murray, Kyla Stephen, and Christian Scheopner. Kade Stoecklein has also passed the course and is eligible to challenge the practical and written exam.  He was unable to attend the Hays exam site. Ness County EMS looks forward to working with each of these students. The students have been shadowing EMS calls and transfers since last January.