Bachelor of applied business: emergency services (BABES) students had the opportunity to meet face-to-face this year when they set up an incident command system at the Lloydminster RCMP Detachment.

Students in the part-time, online program completed this emergency preparedness and response training in March - the only onsite component of the three-year program for emergency service professionals.

For Carmen Lampman, learning the systems approach to emergency incident management onsite with her instructors and fellow students has been the highlight of the program so far.

“It was nice to be able to put a real face to the people I regularly talk with every week,” says Lampman, who immigrated to Canada from Germany 12 years ago.

Hunkered down in the RCMP Station, BABES students spent a week learning to develop incident control plans, asses incidents, take control and make operational decisions, manage resource requirements in accordance with control requirements and implement the control plan.

“We all had a leading role to play and learned how it works,” says Lampman. “From a learning perspective, you saw how overwhelming things can be in an incident with limited resources and how difficult it is to communicate information sometimes with only half the picture, but also how to stay focused and not lose control over the situation.”

Balancing her Lakeland studies with her full-time paramedic career at Haldimand County Paramedic Service, Lampman says she was eager to complete the practical training portion of the program.

“Overall, it gave me a better understanding of what's going on when we have a bigger incident because in my line of work, I would be the one to pick up the patient and take them to the hospital. But now I see what's going on behind the scenes with the command centre or emergency operations centre, so it was really interesting to experience this and gain this knowledge.”

While BABES students came from across Western Canada for the training, Lampman was one of seven students who travelled from Ontario. Coming from different emergency services backgrounds and professions, Lampman says the opportunity to connect with her peers in-person was helpful.

“I think it's beneficial to see how other emergency services professionals work and operate. You know, we share the some of the same struggles with our services and could relate,” she says.

Now almost half-way through the program, Lampman is looking forward to the rest of her studies, which includes ethics for emergency services managers and  strategic management, among other topics, as well as practicum work.

“This program will help bring me a step closer to my goal of working in a leadership position,” says Lampman.

Photos: Top - Lapman at work during incident command course. Her cross-Canada cohort completed the course at the Lloydminster RCMP Detachment. Bottom -Lampman was featured on the cover of the April/May 2019 issue of Canadian Paramedicine.