Phil Royal EMT Program

at the CRHS Academy of Health Careers

Citrus County School board members unanimously voted on the new name just a few minutes ago, alongside CRHS Principal Dr. Linda Connors, April Royal and Phil and April”s daughter Brelyn.

It is official! Today the Citrus County School Board unanimously approved officially naming the new EMT program at Crystal River High School to be the “Phil Royal EMT Program at the CRHS Academy of Health Careers”.

What brought this about was something that was shared to me by a special individual. Shortly after I was first elected to office, the leader of our Law Enforcement Academy at the time, Phil Royal, talked to me about the need and his hope that someday the CRHS’s Health Academy’s Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) program could improve to be an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program. Over the years I helped encourage us to explore the possibility, but there were many obstacles.

This past year we tried again and with Superintendent Himmel, her team, District Post-Secondary Coordinator Debra Stanley, and CRHS Principal Dr. Connors, CRHS Head Guidance Counselor Trudee Mason, CF Associate Professor Rodney McGinnes, along with the College of Central Florida.  This was not an easy task and I am so thankful for the commitment of all involved to make this a reality.

April Royal holds a photo of new Royal EMT Program instructor Wendy Barton who as a former EMT student herself of Phil Royal’s.

As a result of this team, two weeks ago, 10 students began the Royal EMT Program. The students will complete their training before the end of this school year and will then take the National EMS Certification. If they successfully pass the certification, and after high school graduation, these students will be EMT Certified. I am so grateful to Superintendent Sandra “Sam” Himmel and our Citrus County School Board for supporting this great program.

What also makes this all even more special is that when we were working with CF EMS Professor McGinnes in developing the program we learned that he had worked with Phil Royal in the EMT training program. The CF EMT instructor he chose for CRHS was none other than, Wendy Barton, a former EMT student of Phil Royal’s.  The perfect person to help our EMT students not only be prepared for the work they will be doing but someone that learned from Phil Royal himself how to be a model EMT.

Lastly, I want to thank April Royal for allowing us to use Phil’s name for the program and for her support of this program!

For more information about the Phil Royal EMT Program at the CRHS Academy of Health Careers visit: https://crh.citrusschools.org/clubs_organizations/academy_of_health_careers

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