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 Newsletter - Fall/Winter
2001
The Inez & Sidney Bock EMS
Training Center at Grace Cottage is celebrating
its first anniversary this month with little
fanfare but with great pride on the part
of its students, volunteers, and director.
"The only advertising so far for our classes
has been by word-of-mouth," said Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) Training Director
Mark Onyon, "and every class has been at
capacity." To date, 150 students have attended
Mark's CPR, First Aid, and EMS classes,
and 40 have graduated as Emergency Medical
Technicians and First Responders.
"What this means is that not only are there 40 more volunteers for the Rescue Squads in Brattleboro, Townshend, Newfane, Brookline, East and West Dover, Jamaica, Winhall, Wardsboro, Grafton, and Londonderry, but there are also 150 more people in these communities who are familiar with CPR and First Aid techniques," said Onyon. "There's no telling how many lives might eventually be saved by this knowledge."
Mark's greatest satisfaction with the EMS Training Center occurs not in the classroom, but in the field. "I have the opportunity to work with the students who have graduated from my classes, assisting patients during emergency calls. They're confident, have good skills, and get so much satisfaction, as I do, from helping their friends, family and neighbors in the community where they're needed most," said Onyon. Mark not only enjoys his work with adult volunteers, but with children as well. He's visited the Brookline elementary school twice, to teach CPR/First Aid to every grade. "I honestly didn't think kids that young could learn CPR, but they picked it up immediately, remembered the sequence, and asked all the right questions. Most of them aren't strong enough to do CPR themselves, but they could perhaps instruct an adult in what to do, if there were an emergency." The recent terrorist acts in New York City and Washington, D.C. have underscored the importance of emergency services and preparedness, and it's reassuring to know that an ever-increasing number of emergency volunteers are being trained at Grace Cottage. For more information on classes, call Mark Onyon at (802) 365-7140 x 132. |
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With
the assistance of one of his EMS students,
Kendra Brooks, Mark Onyon teaches Brookline
students and teachers some basic emergency
response techniques during a simulation
of a play-ground accident. Dick Marek, a
retired attorney from Chicago who is now
a resident of Newfane and a member of the
volunteer NewBrook Fire Department, has
high praise for Mark Onyon and the 120-hour
EMS/First Responder class. "This is a tremendous
asset to the communities around Grace Cottage,"
said Marek. "It's so convenient not to have
to travel to Brattleboro or elsewhere for
these classes, and Mark is an absolutely
natural teacher. He makes everyone in the
class immediately feel at ease, and he has
this wonderful ability to convey complex
information in a fashion that is easy to
assimilate. It's clear that he loves what
he does."