The Only Trip to the Coroner's Office You Want to Take
An educational tour
Launch the media gallery 1 playerStudents enrolled in KACC's Fire-Rescue-EMR program have just begun the Emergency Medical Responder curriculum.
Student who successfully complete the program will qualify to take the necessary certification examination to become a Certified EMR through the Illinois Department of Public Health.
One of the many topics they learn is that death and dying are a part of every emergency responder's life. Students study the legal and ethical issues regarding living wills, advance directives, and do not resuscitate orders (DNRs) so they can better deal with end-of-life issues. They also learned about the five stages of death/grief , giving them another set of skills to better deal with terminally ill patients and their families.
Launch the media gallery 2 playerThere is always the possibility of encountering stressful situations, not only for themselves, but their workmates as well. Mr. Leeson and his students discussed a variety of situations which can cause this type of stress, and how best to deal with it.
Another opportunity for students to be engaged in real-world-experiences in their training, students visited the Kankakee County Coroner's Office and morgue. While there, Chief Deputy Coroner Eric Cavender provided a behind-the-scenes look at what the coroner's office does when it encounters death, the autopsies and procedures they use in determining the cause of death adn a tour of their facilities.
Launch the media gallery 3 playerMr. Leeson, his students and all of us at KACC want to thank Kankakee Coroner Robert Gessner and his entire staff for being so accommodating to KACC's students. In fact, the Law Enforcement students also went to the morgue for an educational visit about a week ago.
It is only through partnering with local professionals, like the Coroner's Office, and our local hospitals, Amita St. Mary's and Riverside Medical Center, that we can thoroughly prepare these future Emergency Medical Responders for tomorrow.