April 13, 2005

Cowley's Griffiths named KEMTA Instructor of Year

Slade Griffiths, director of emergency medical services education at Cowley College, is the recipient of the 2005 Outstanding Instructor/Coordinator Award by the Kansas Emergency Medical Technicians Association.

The award was presented April 9 during KEMTA’s annual convention in Great Bend.

Griffiths, who heads Cowley’s Mobile Intensive Care Technician program at the college’s Winfield Center, has been at Cowley since Sept. 1, 1996. Lead MICT Instructor Cindy Branscum nominated Griffiths for the award.

“It blew me away,” Griffiths said. “There were a ton of nominees. It’s quite an honor to be chosen. I’m very humbled and very pleased.”

The award is presented to a person whom the awards committee feels has demonstrated the best commitment to the highest ideals of EMS education in Kansas.

Griffiths has developed Cowley’s program into one of the finest in the region. Each year, graduates of the program are placed in a variety of EMS-related occupations. Some go on to physician’s assistants school. Still others enter the EMS education field as instructors.

“This award really belongs to all the EMS faculty in Winfield and the students who make me look good,” Griffiths said. “It is because of them that I received this honor.”

Branscum praised Griffiths for building Cowley’s program from the ground level.

“He designed a paramedic program that escorts EMTs through one year of intense training to develop into competent MICTs,” Branscum said. “This program was one of the first in the state to offer training in a rural clinic where paramedic students work one-on-one with a physician to assess and treat patients.”

Travis Morin, an MICT from the class of 2004, said his experience in the program was very positive.

“It was truly an honor to be a part of the program,” Morin said. “I have won many awards as an athlete, but nothing I have accomplished prior to this has made me so proud. I can say with great pride that I was a Cowley student. The reason that statement carries so much weight is because of all the hard work and dedication Slade and Cindy have put in. It reflects on their work and the students they produce.”

Lt. Dean Crowley, MICT with Sedgwick County EMS, said, “It’s a very positive experience. (The student was a) great representation of the caliber of student produced by Cowley College.”

When it became mandated that all MICT students wishing to challenge boards in the state of Kansas have associate degrees, Griffiths developed a program for all Cowley MICT graduates. In 2003, Griffiths successfully led the Cowley EMS faculty and staff through the accreditation process to fulfill a Kansas Board of EMS requirement that all paramedic programs in Kansas receive CoAEMSP accreditation.

Griffiths also was instrumental in Cowley’s new partnership with Pratt Community College. Pratt is now offering LPN and RN programs at the Winfield Center. At the same time, Griffiths was successful in adding an additional MICT class that will begin in January 2006, so that Cowley may teach two MICT classes per year—one during the day, the other in the evening—and accommodate twice as many students.

Cowley’s MICT program is designed and organized to provide the highest quality education for students who wish to gain the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes which lead toward employment as an MICT. Education and training received in the program will prepare the properly motivated student to provide highly-skilled advanced life support in the pre-hospital or other health care settings. This affords the individual an opportunity to have a true impact on reducing morbidity and mortality.

Randall Smith, MICT IC and a Sedgwick County EMS training officer, said he was impressed with the quality of students who graduate from the program.

“I have had opportunity to observe, and to work with, some of Slade’s former students, and he should be proud,” Smith said. “While I would expect their knowledge to be good, it is of merit toward Slade to have them acknowledge both Cowley, its staff and Slade in such a manner. He has developed a strong program of education and training, and it is well reflected through the students and their actions.”

Griffiths works closely with local physicians, including Dr. Chandy Samuel and Dr. Roy Danks, two medical advisors at Cowley. Together, they develop the most up-to-date curriculum for Cowley students.

Prior to coming to Cowley, Griffiths served as an MICT and training officer for Leavenworth EMS. Griffiths has a master’s degree in education from Southwestern College, and a bachelor’s degree from Friends University.