“A typical day in our class involves the students doing push-ups, followed by a morning meeting with the captains to discuss the weekly and daily plans, and any necessary changes. Then they’ll add events to their calendars and relay daily tasks to everyone. They spend about 90% of their time outside in the fire class, where the kids gear up and perform their daily duties,” says EMT instructor Adam Chacon, summarizing the students’ daily routine in the Fire/EMT class at Serrano High School.
As of December 12, 2025, Serrano High School launched a new and relatively rare class that isn’t very common in the State of California: an in-school Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Program. Most high schools in the state aren’t able to offer this program for several reasons, including state requirements, age limits, and cost. Thankfully, Serrano High School has been able to overcome all of these obstacles with the help of partnerships from San Bernardino County Fire, Cal Fire, and San Diego County Fire. Each of these collaborations played a crucial role in making this class a reality at Serrano High School.
Recently, the EMT class received a new piece of equipment, an ambulance simulator, and will soon receive new equipment from Cal Fire. In the simulator, students learn how to operate a real ambulance and identify key items they will use in a realistic emergency response situations.
This new EMT class will help prepare students for their future careers in emergency services. One student, James, who is currently in the EMT program, said, “This class helps students like myself prepare through training, studying, and getting the hands-on experience. This also prepares students to be ready for real-world scenarios.”
Another student, Aliana (pictured on the far left) describes her own experiences with the program and her future goals in the medical field, saying, “I joined this program because I’m really good friends with Brent Cannon, one of our local firefighters. We were working together at the youth football and cheer snack bar on a Saturday when he started telling me about the program. My dream is to become a nurse practitioner, and he mentioned I could become a nurse on a helicopter, and I’ve always been interested in the medical field, hands-on work, and all the activity that comes with it. So when the opportunity came up, I decided to go for it. Since then, I’ve learned valuable things, such as how to run patient assessments, CPR, and Basic Life Support.”
Adam Chacon, the Instructor of the new EMT program (pictured far left) says this program allows him to give back to the community he grew up in. He also says this program is helping to raise “the next generation of public service.” Students who complete the program and are 18 years old upon completion will be ready to take the National Registry EMT exam and will be far more prepared for certification and employment.
Wondering if this new program is right for your teen? Adam Chacon says, “The Fire and EMT program definitely helps these kids grow. It gives them self-confidence. This program allows them to push themselves. It allows them to work at the team level or in the community during events. They’re out and about talking to community members, and they’re always here, around campus and in the community. These kids carry themselves with a sense of pride, not in a way that’s negative, but, they’re proud of being part of the program and they’re proud of being part of something….for any parent that wants to see a definite change, you know, mentally and physically, I would say, join the Fire and or EMT program because they’ll see a change in their own in their own child for sure.”
