SANDPOINT — Health Occupation Students of America at Sandpoint High School train for CPR certificate and other certifications.

All students at SHS have to take Career Technical Education classes as a graduation requirement. The HOSA student organization is part of CTE focused on health professions.

Liz Smith, a trained and practicing nurse for 18 years has been teaching the HOSA program at SHS for the past three years. This year's seniors who have gone through the program the past 3 years will be the first class to go through the entire program, said Smith.

Students known as the code team, are a part of a first responding team for the school. They take care of any injuries or illness as a way to support the patient and provide basic first aid until the school nurse arrives, said Smith.

Since the code team’s inception since last January they have mostly dealt with very minor issues, like low blood sugar, said Smith. She said there was one time last school year when a student did have a strange medical emergency.

“The students work with the school nurse just to sort of get vital signs and support the patient throughout,” said Smith. “They're prepared for anything bigger. They know how to stop bleeding and know basic first aid.”

In the first year students take an introduction to health professions class which acts as a broad introduction to more career options available in health care, said SHS.org. The second year of the program is a dual credit of medical terminology which mirrors North Idaho Collage’s curriculum. The third year aligns with the Idaho Board of Nursing curriculum where the student is then able to become a certified nursing assistant.

“At the end of the school year students test for their CNA,” said Smith. “The test goes through the program and they can get a CNA basically anywhere.”

A CNA is more of a stepping stone to work through college, said Smith. Students can make good money as a CNA and get great work experience. So most of them use their CNA through college and hopefully don’t incur as much student debt, said Smith.

Students fast forward money pays for the CNA, said Smith. In the class students only have to pay for their uniforms.

“Kids in this class are usually really driven. They are really focused on what they want to do and where they want to go and it's a great stepping stone,” said Smith.

She said that when it comes to a scholarship or an application between two students it will be the one with the certification like a CNA that will be accepted.