Alvin Community College Emergency Medical Technician instructors are taking their expertise outside of the classroom and helping train aspiring medics and firefighters in Latin America.

The first class of nine Latin American students recently completed their training this month after taking online courses and then undergoing real-world training.

"They had a good experience," said Douglas Stevenson, ACC EMS department head. "It was very successful."

The 16-week program began in April and included students from Columbia, Chile and Mexico. The coursework they took online are not any different from what's taught in the classroom. All of the courses were administered in Spanish.

ACC's role in the program is to provide the classroom materials as well as creating the curriculum for the students to follow.

"They learned a lot," Stevenson said of the first class. "And we learned a lot as well."

ACC worked alongside the FIRES Foundation which is dedicated to training firefighters, hospital staff and EMS personnel in Latin American countries. The FIRES Foundation also partners with Houston Fire Department, LBJ Hospital and Ben Taub Hospital to provide the hands on training.

The students performed well in their training during nine days of rotations in Houston, Stevenson said.

"They received very good reports from the physicians and the patients they worked with," he said.

In addition to the online courses and their training, instructors from Houston, San Marcos, Alvin, and Juarez, Mexico traveled to Bogota, Colombia -on their own- time to help with the midterm skills training.

While the instructors felt the first class did well in their training, things will improve as the program continues.

We are looking forward to improving our second class," Stevenson said. "Thanks to the donations from Texas/ Mexico Partners of the Americas, Houston Fire Department,  San Marcos EMS,  Juarez Fire Department, and ACC EMS faculty and students the costs have been kept as low as possible to provide this outstanding training to our colleagues in Latin America."

The new graduates hopefully will spread their knowledge and skills to other medical personnel working in their native countries.