Vance-Granville Community College honored 10 students who completed the College’s yearlong Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic program on Sept. 18:
- Mackenzie Sizemore of Bullock
- Jan Aldana, Tyler Patrick, Justin Simmons, and Tayler Thompson, all of Henderson
- Jessica Ellington of Kittrell
- Travis Faulcon of Littleton
- Jesse Basden of Louisburg
- Paige Harrell of Oxford
- Sareta Marks of Warrenton
Vivian Loyd, a Registered Nurse and Paramedic Level II instructor, taught the class.
EMT-Paramedic instruction includes 660 hours of didactic (classroom) training and 400 hours of clinical education, or field internship. To be eligible to take the EMT-P course, students had to have already completed a 228-hour EMT-Basic course and passed a state exam.
An EMT-Paramedic has enhanced skills beyond the EMT-Basic level, including being able to administer additional interventions and medications. The EMT-P delivers the highest level of pre-hospital medical care in North Carolina.
In order to successfully complete the EMT-P course, students had to pass several different exams, including a “scope of practice” exam. This scenario-based evaluation tested the hands-on and critical thinking skills of students, as they delivered the appropriate treatment to multiple trauma patients and dealt with pediatric, environmental, and mental-illness situations. Each student also had to complete an 80-hour Anatomy and Physiology course.
Now that students have completed the EMT-P course, they must take the 100-question North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services credentialing exam to become state-certified. VGCC offers Emergency Medical Services training at the basic and the Paramedic levels, in addition to continuing education and CPR/ACLS/PALS Pro. For more information on enrolling in these courses, call Stephen Barney at (252) 738-3273.
