Meet South Branch EMT Ashley Vorndran
EMT Apprenticeship Program Completed, Career Goal Achieved
Ashley Vorndran always knew she was meant to work in medicine. Reading about the SBES Apprenticeship Program, she found the way.
After high school, Ashley enrolled in a nursing program, but her care was needed closer to home. “I had to drop out of college to take care of my great-grandmother, who wasn’t well,” said Ashley, who is now 24. Her great-grandmother passed away in June of 2019, and Ashley found paid work to make money for school. “By the time I had figured everything out, COVID hit,” she remembered.
Online learning was not for her, so she moved on, finding work in security and as hospital mental health technician. But her desire for a medical career never waned and earlier this year, she told her boyfriend, Jacob, that she needed to find a way to make it happen. With his support she began searching and found the Indeed post for the SBES Apprenticeship Program, through which she would receive classroom instruction, hands-on training, a salary while she learned and a raise upon successful completion.
Ashley did well and began working as one of SBES’s newest career EMTs in May 2023.
“It was very fast-paced, and sometimes hard, but worth it,” she said. Ashley soon learned that not only her instructors, but also all of the SBES EMTs – volunteer and career – were there to support her and answer questions. “Everybody at SBES was so helpful,” she said. “This is one of the best places I’ve ever worked when it comes to everyone getting along and everyone respecting everybody else.”
As a new team member, she’s always paired with a more experienced EMT, which gives her confidence as she builds experience.
Some of the calls she finds most meaningful are the ones where she gets to help older people. “If they fall and I can help them get up, I know I’m helping them do something they couldn’t do fully on their own,” she said. She knows how hard it can be for an older person to accept that they need help and call 911, something she always keeps in mind when she responds. The 2.5 years she spent caring for Great Grandma Doris helped prepare her for these calls, and they always make Ashley think about her, she said.
Ashley now lives in Fountain Hill, Lehigh County, PA with Jacob and their home zoo, which includes dog Rylie, iguana Bailey and Nugget the Ferret, along with several geckos, snakes, and tarantulas and two tanks of fish.
“I’m looking forward to growing in my career and being a better and better EMT,” she said. “I hope, through my work, to give back to the community and to many people who have put so much effort into helping others.”
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Interested in joining SBES as a career or volunteer EMT? Visit www.sbes365.org to learn more.
After high school, Ashley enrolled in a nursing program, but her care was needed closer to home. “I had to drop out of college to take care of my great-grandmother, who wasn’t well,” said Ashley, who is now 24. Her great-grandmother passed away in June of 2019, and Ashley found paid work to make money for school. “By the time I had figured everything out, COVID hit,” she remembered.
Online learning was not for her, so she moved on, finding work in security and as hospital mental health technician. But her desire for a medical career never waned and earlier this year, she told her boyfriend, Jacob, that she needed to find a way to make it happen. With his support she began searching and found the Indeed post for the SBES Apprenticeship Program, through which she would receive classroom instruction, hands-on training, a salary while she learned and a raise upon successful completion.
Ashley did well and began working as one of SBES’s newest career EMTs in May 2023.
“It was very fast-paced, and sometimes hard, but worth it,” she said. Ashley soon learned that not only her instructors, but also all of the SBES EMTs – volunteer and career – were there to support her and answer questions. “Everybody at SBES was so helpful,” she said. “This is one of the best places I’ve ever worked when it comes to everyone getting along and everyone respecting everybody else.”
As a new team member, she’s always paired with a more experienced EMT, which gives her confidence as she builds experience.
Some of the calls she finds most meaningful are the ones where she gets to help older people. “If they fall and I can help them get up, I know I’m helping them do something they couldn’t do fully on their own,” she said. She knows how hard it can be for an older person to accept that they need help and call 911, something she always keeps in mind when she responds. The 2.5 years she spent caring for Great Grandma Doris helped prepare her for these calls, and they always make Ashley think about her, she said.
Ashley now lives in Fountain Hill, Lehigh County, PA with Jacob and their home zoo, which includes dog Rylie, iguana Bailey and Nugget the Ferret, along with several geckos, snakes, and tarantulas and two tanks of fish.
“I’m looking forward to growing in my career and being a better and better EMT,” she said. “I hope, through my work, to give back to the community and to many people who have put so much effort into helping others.”
---
Interested in joining SBES as a career or volunteer EMT? Visit www.sbes365.org to learn more.