For the Tomahawk Leader

RHINELANDER – The Nicolet College Foundation recently awarded its 2023 Friends and Partners Award to Aspirus MedEvac. 

“Without question, Aspirus MedEvac is a valuable partner for Nicolet College,” said Nicolet College Associate Dean of Public Safety Jason Goeldner. “We have a high demand for education of EMS services at the college, and there is a shortage of employees for ground crews, so this partnership helps everyone.”

Aspirus MedEvac has partnered with Nicolet College several times to help provide full-scale immersive hands-on learning simulations.

“During simulations, we start from ground zero with a structure fire taking place, patients getting extricated, transferred to EMS, transferred to the nursing students, and transferred to the helicopter,” Goeldner stated. “Aspirus helps us provide this learning opportunity.”

The Aspirus MedEvac team is “on the front lines of emergency services,” according to Nicolet.

Charles Kotke, Aspirus MedEvac Regional Manager, underscored the importance of these joint efforts.

“Our collaboration with the Public Safety team and the Nursing students through simulations only continued to grow people to come in and make our community bigger and be able to support the needs of our public safety,”  Kotke said.

Nicolet College Foundation Board President John Schiek commended Aspirus MedEvac.

“Their commitment to enhancing the education that Nicolet College provides will have a lasting impact in our community,” Schiek stated.

“The collaboration really does grow the values of our organization, right alongside Nicolet College,” Kotke stated. “Getting an award like this inspires the entire team.”

Kotke added that simulations also provide professional development opportunities for Aspirus employees, which further strengthens their skill sets.

“Earlier this year, Aspirus also donated an ambulance to the Nicolet College Foundation to help bolster Nicolet College’s already strong experiential learning opportunities for students,” Nicolet stated.