Derek decided awhile back that he wanted to be trained as a dispatcher for Boston EMS. The original idea was that having this additional training might afford him more opportunities for overtime, and if god forbid he would ever get hurt he would have additional skills to fall back on within Boston EMS. He let the higher-ups know he was interested in the training as it became available. I got a call from Derek on Friday saying that the deputy had contacted him re: a last-minute position that had opened up in the dispatch training class that was starting on Monday! It turns out the training is a bigger deal than we originally knew, but it is a great opportunity!
The 'Emergency Medical Communications Officer' (EMCO) training is a nationally certified program. Derek is currently an EMT, but this type of training outside of the Boston area does not give you many job opportunities. We don't foresee ourselves moving in the future, but if that changed, the EMCO certification would make Derek much more marketable.
On Monday Derek went back to the classroom for the next four weeks, with a 7:30am-3:30pm schedule, Monday through Friday. This is great, because we have LOTS of stuff related to baby preparation to do right now so we will have the next few weekends off together! After the classroom time is completed, he will have 3-4 months of supervised "field" training. Once all the training is done, he estimates it will be over a year before he is back out in the field working as an EMT. The reason for this is that they want you to build your skills up in this area before switching gears again. He has already been told, however, that switching to the night shift as a dispatcher should not be a problem, so this is good news in terms of the tentative plans we have for our work schedules once the babies arrive!
Outside of this change of pace, things are going well. Derek's family came over for Mother's Day on Sunday so it was great to see everyone. Derek, his brother Doug, and almost 2-year-old Kaylan took Joanne & Denny to the Arboretum (where we got married!) for Lilac Sunday. Joanne bought us the cutest onesies for the babies!
My mom sent three handmade baby blankets home with me in May, along with a knitted bonnet and a pair of booties. One blanket was knitted by my Grandma Westerlund (center), one blanket was crotcheted by my Grandma Halseth (left), and one blanket was sewn by my mom (right). Considering the babies are still 5+ months away from arriving, they are already building up a pile of stuff in the room that's going to be their nursery!
The 'Emergency Medical Communications Officer' (EMCO) training is a nationally certified program. Derek is currently an EMT, but this type of training outside of the Boston area does not give you many job opportunities. We don't foresee ourselves moving in the future, but if that changed, the EMCO certification would make Derek much more marketable.
On Monday Derek went back to the classroom for the next four weeks, with a 7:30am-3:30pm schedule, Monday through Friday. This is great, because we have LOTS of stuff related to baby preparation to do right now so we will have the next few weekends off together! After the classroom time is completed, he will have 3-4 months of supervised "field" training. Once all the training is done, he estimates it will be over a year before he is back out in the field working as an EMT. The reason for this is that they want you to build your skills up in this area before switching gears again. He has already been told, however, that switching to the night shift as a dispatcher should not be a problem, so this is good news in terms of the tentative plans we have for our work schedules once the babies arrive!
Outside of this change of pace, things are going well. Derek's family came over for Mother's Day on Sunday so it was great to see everyone. Derek, his brother Doug, and almost 2-year-old Kaylan took Joanne & Denny to the Arboretum (where we got married!) for Lilac Sunday. Joanne bought us the cutest onesies for the babies!
My mom sent three handmade baby blankets home with me in May, along with a knitted bonnet and a pair of booties. One blanket was knitted by my Grandma Westerlund (center), one blanket was crotcheted by my Grandma Halseth (left), and one blanket was sewn by my mom (right). Considering the babies are still 5+ months away from arriving, they are already building up a pile of stuff in the room that's going to be their nursery!
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