VGCC Earns State Certification As Advanced EMS Institution

Vance-Granville Community College has been designated by North Carolina as an Advanced Emergency Medical Services Educational Institution.

This certification permits the college to teach all levels of advanced life support, including Medical Responder, Emergency Medical Technician-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic, as well as continuing education on all levels.

Randy Owen, EMS coordinator for Vance-Granville, said VGCC is one of the first community colleges in the state to earn the advanced certification. Vance-Granville trains all the emergency medical technicians for municipal and voluntary ambulance squads and rescue squads in Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties, all of whom have personnel trained at the highest EMT level – paramedics.

EMTs from Person County are also trained at VGCC.

To qualify as an Advanced Emergency Services Educational Institution, a college has to have on its staff a person with Advanced Life Support (ALS) certification. Owen holds that certification.

A college also has to have access to advanced life support training equipment. Vance-Granville has four defibrillators, ALS-approved mannequins and other necessary equipment.

“We have had the required personnel and equipment, and we have been teaching at the advanced level for a number of years,” Owen said. “We just had to document it all in accordance with North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services regulations to get the certification.”

Emergency Medical Technician training has changed drastically in recent years, according to Owen. “The curriculum has been changed, and the number of hours training required to reach certification has dramatically increased,” he said. “For instance, paramedic training has increased from 600 to 1,195 hours.”

Also, an 80-hour anatomy and physiology course has been made a pre-requisite for entrance into the EMT-Paramedic course. VGCC will begin teaching its first anatomy and physiology course on Feb. 15 for those seeking paramedic certification.

EMTs must also get 24 hours a year of continuing education to maintain their certifications, and VGCC provides this training for about 110 personnel in the region.