"When I went into it, I was not sure I could handle it. Atter a few (emergency) calls, I knew it was for me," said Megan Finn, a senior at Twin Valley High School (TVHS), who is currently interning at the Lower Providence Community Center Ambulance. "(Interning) can make or break your (career decision)."

Megan, who was named the Intern of the Month at TVHS for January, started her internship at the ambulance company at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. She arranged to work with her mentor, Christopher Reynolds, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) chief, when she was a junior as part of her senior course selection.

"(The school) can find someone or you can find a connection yourself, which is what I did," she said, explaining that her mom, who is a nurse, knew Reynolds through a family friend.

Megan works at the station twice a week from 1 to 4 p.m. When there are no emergency calls, she keeps busy doing paperwork and other assigned tasks. Reynolds also gives her advice about what it takes to become an emergency medical technician (EMT) and describes different situations that can occur in an ambulance.

"We have office days. I help others with chores and (clean) equipment," said Megan. "Sometimes we talk about things that happened, what (the EMS workers) did in different scenarios and what calls they had that week."

Megan is certified in Basic Life Support (BLS), so she has the ability to go on calls and assist patients in the ambulance.

"I've been on a lot of calls - anything from a little kid who got hit by a car (who later recovered) to an overdose to a kid getting stung by a bee. It's been a wide range," she said. "The most impactful one was the fatal overdose. It was a young guy, and it was the most intense call. He made it (to the hospital) with us, but we followed up and learned later that he had passed away."

To Megan, the most rewarding part of her internship is counting "saves." "If it's a cardiac arrest and we revive them, we count that as a save or an achievement," she said. "It is very rewarding. It reminds me of the perks of the job."

Megan has applied to Reading School of Health Sciences for its basic EMT program in fall 2022, after which she will decide if she wants to become a medic or attend nursing school.

Gwen Werner, one of the internship coordinators at TVHS, reported that between 100 and 200 students take part in internships each school year. "They can intern in most areas such as medical, veterinarian, law, auto mechanics, engineering, chef, teaching, etc.," she said. "Mentors set goals with interns and provide weekly feedback as needed and they complete a more formal assessment every four weeks."

For more information about Twin Valley's internship program, contact Werner at 610-286-8637 or gwerner@tvsd.org or Angela Morgan at 610-286-8638 or amorgan@tvsd.org.