Vance-Granville Community College honored 21 students who completed the college’s Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic program in July.

The graduates included Idabelle Proffitt of Bullock; Annie Wilbourne of Bunn; Kizer Blackburn of Durham; Chris Milton of Epsom; Ashley Denton, Nikki Henderson, Daniel Null, Jonathon Pulley and Dillon Thomas, all of Henderson; Taylor Abbott of Kittrell; Destanie Fisher of Orange County; Brent Adcock, Tina Ayscue and Justin Preddy, all of Oxford; Branden Bass of Providence (Granville County); Danielle Dixon, Andrew McDonald and Thomas McDuffie, all of Roxboro; and Justin Chambers, Kira Chambers and Luke O’Briant, all of Timberlake.

Vivian Loyd, a Registered Nurse and Paramedic Level II instructor, was the instructor for the class, which began in August of 2016. This was the first class held in VGCC’s Main Campus Building 10, the new home for Emergency Medical Services training.

EMT-Paramedic instruction includes 596 hours of didactic (classroom) training and 500 hours of clinical education, or field internship. To be eligible to take the EMT-P course, students had to have already completed a 203-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 the 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 from the basic to the Paramedic level, in addition to continuing education. For more information on enrolling in these courses, call EMS Coordinator/instructor Stephen Barney at (252) 738-3273.

–VGCC–