Course Gives EMTs Training for Stroke Victims

Gloucester County Emergency Medical Services (GCEMS) personnel and EMTs from around the county will get a chance to learn from a leader in the field of stroke treatments at the next continuing education course this Thursday.

Dr. Erol Veznedaroglu, director of neurosciences and endovascular and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at Capital Health, a nationally recognized neurosurgeon and expert in stroke and other potentially fatal conditions of the brain, will be the presenter at the county services building in Clayton for the course, which starts at 7 p.m.

Freeholder Director Robert Damminger said the continuing education series a key part of improving the county’s emergency services.

“When the freeholders created GCEMS, one of the missions was to ensure our staff and the EMT community in the region had access to the latest technology, training and information on saving lives,” Damminger said.

Freeholder Joe Chila called the stroke treatment course potentially a “once-in-a-career opportunity for EMTs to talk face-to-face with a physician who is on the cutting edge of his specialty.”

There is still space available for the course, which is free of charge and open to both GCEMS personnel and other county EMTs, and spots can be reserved by e-mailing bburke@co.gloucester.nj.us or calling 856-307-7120.

Future offerings include courses in hypothermia and case studies in trauma.

“We have top names in the health industry coming in to teach this year from Hahnemann, Crozer, Our Lady of Lourdes, Robert Wood Johnson, Cooper Health and Jefferson University,” Chila said. “We are building a system that attracts the best.”