Four more SVFD Firefighters are going to Paramedic School.

2020 has 4 more ambitious SVFD Firefighters going to Paramedic School!

In general, most Firefighters do not like recognition for all the great things they do. For most of them, they feel it is “just part of their job.” They are just “naturally” drawn to helping others.

Firefighters  are the “Quiet Professionals” serving their community doing their job quietly and well, every time and with dignity.

However, going to Paramedic School is a big deal and it takes a BIG time commitment from these Firefighters and their families. We want to honor their commitment to themselves, their future, their families, and their community.

The basic requirements for the program at INHS consists of 3 separate phases and takes approximately a year to complete. The first phase is the classroom portion which consists of 672 hours of in class time learning, this time is split over 3 days M-W and essentially adds an extra 24 hours of work to their week, not counting study time. The recommended amount of study time to keep up with the information is 20 hours per week, plus 3 to 5 hours to take each test.

The 24 hours a week class time is spent between class, lab time, and going over all the national registry skill sheets that cover everything from the basics of CPR, to IV and advanced airway placement (intubation), to drawing up approximately 80 medications.

They also must lead summative scenarios, where they are assigned a group and given an emergency call for service.  They run through the scenario acting as the lead paramedic, giving direction to the team, calculating medication doses, and being in charge of patient care for the simulated patient.   During the summative scenario they are being evaluated on the spot in front of their team.  Sounds a little stressful!

After this Phase I, Clinical Rotations begin.  This part takes place at the local hospitals, pulling shifts in the various different departments, ER, OR, Pediatrics, and OBGYN delivering babies.  “Yikes,” they say.  This second phase takes a MINIMUM of 258.5 hours.  They are required to get a certain number of IV starts, intubations, patient contacts, and yes, deliveries . . . again, “YIKES,” they say.

For these Firefighters, after this Phase II, life begins to return to some form of normalcy.

And then, the real test begins.  They now begin to practice in the field under the close eye of an assigned proctor/mentor.  This phase III is based upon a MINIMUM of 360 hours.  For the Firefighters, the nice part is that this is done on their regularly scheduled SVFD shifts.  They are assigned to one of SVFD’s busier engines to complete this training.  Once they reach the required number of patient interactions, they are then eligible to sit for the written National Registry Paramedic exam.

For these Firefighters, studying doesn’t stop when the classroom portion is over, they must continue to study their books for the next several months in order to pass the national certification test after their practicum.

The Firefighters believe that the real heroes in this whole process, are their “wives, kids, families and friends who are in the background picking up all the slack at home so that we are able to spend the hours upon hours outside of class that required for us to succeed.”  

We are beyond excited about SVFD Firefighters who continue to sacrifice so that they can grow and develop their skills here at the SVFD.  We are proud of these hardworking individuals who want to educate themselves in order to care for the community they serve more effectively and more efficiently.  Paramedic services and EMS calls top the list of calls for service here at the SVFD.

We want to thank these four Firefighters, Jeff Caldwell, Rawley Doggett, Nikko Humphry, and Ian Sutherland, for investing in their future and the care of the community they serves.

Congratulations on being accepted into Paramedic School!