From Classroom to Crisis Response: PSC’s EMT Program Makes a Life-Saving Impact

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL - Prairie State College (PSC) staff member Brian Stanley realized the significance of his work when a PSC-trained Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) aided his 10-year-old son, Brian Jr., in a recent medical emergency.

On a visit to the Matteson Community Center, Brian and his wife, Shaneka, watched helplessly as a lifeguard pulled their son from the pool after he suffered an asthma attack.

“He was lethargic and struggling to breathe,” Shaneka recalled. “He didn’t even have the energy to pull himself out.” Within minutes, EMTs Steven Dedo and CJ Sopko from the Matteson Fire Department arrived. Dedo, a 2008 PSC EMT graduate, checked Brian Jr.’s oxygen levels and found them alarmingly low.

“We put a pulse oximeter on him, and his oxygen level was in the high 80s and low 90s. When your body stops getting oxygen, it struggles.”

The EMTs administered albuterol, a medication to improve breathing, and he was then transported to the hospital for further evaluation. Thanks to the swift actions of first responders, Brian Jr. was released a few hours later with no lasting effects.

Stanley, who is the director of Workforce Equity Initiative (WEI) at PSC, is forever grateful for the lifeguard and first responders. 

“The EMT is one of several programs we provide funding for, and I am proud of my work in giving students an opportunity to get hands-on experience and training to become heroes in our communities. The first responders are there to help people on some of the worst days of their lives, and I will never forget their efforts in helping our son.”

Months later, the Stanley family visited the firehouse, where Brian Jr. reunited with the EMTs, toured the station, tried on gear, and posed with fire trucks. “Every day is different,” said Sopko. “We rarely hear how things turn out. Seeing someone come back to say thank you means everything.”

The EMT program at PSC prepares students for emergency response careers. The WEI Grant,  focuses on supporting students’ completion of accelerated certificates and pathway programs in high demand, high skill, and high wage industries—programs that, in this case, helped save a life.

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