So, you’ve started a new semester full of eager EMT candidates.  The students have no experience being “up in people’s business.”  They are learning about gloves and consent.  Raised in the digital age, they need additional guidance on making personal interactions warm and comforting for a fearful patient.

But first, we’ve got to get them comfortable with touching a stranger…with consent, of course.

I’m all about experiential learning.  It will enhance your EMS students’ learning dramatically—why “lecture” when 1) it is not the most effective option and 2) you can cover just as much ground (if not MORE) in the same time with a well-designed activity?

Furthermore, most of these students are kinesthetic learners.  Anything we can do to keep them moving facilitates the entry of foreign information into their brains!

Did you know—adult learners will retain more of the information on first pass if we’re actively accommodating their needs and challenges?  More on that in posts to come, but providing meaningful experiences will stimulate more parts of the brain resulting in a decreased amount of out-of-class-study required.  This is critical to our adult students who also have full time jobs and families.

Here is a favorite of mine for early in EMT class.  It accomplishes several objectives, primarily, the breakdown of

Color Coding Labels—indispensable tool to help break down “personal space” barriers.

social barriers and familiarization with anatomical terms and locations.

I have found that the key to a winning experience is to design it around the objectives we wish to achieve.  I hope you find this one helpful.  If you would like it in Word format so that you may customize and expand it, just reach out to me!

Download the 2022 The Dot Game instructional today!

Do you have medicolegal coming up?  Look for my post on that activity coming soon!