submitted by Ava Brown, Lake County Fire Rescue
Lake County Fire Rescue, in partnership with First Response Training Group, celebrated the graduation of the second class of its official in-house paramedic program, PO45, last week. The program is designed to strengthen emergency medical services skills while investing in the department’s future.
Traditional academic paramedic programs typically take 12 months to complete, but Lake County Fire Rescue’s collaborative in-house paramedic program reduces that timeline to six months without sacrificing the state of Florida’s required academic, clinical, and hands-on training standards.
In partnership with First Response Training Group, selected personnel received instruction from experienced paramedic instructors. To implement the accelerated program, selected personnel were reassigned to a 40-hour workweek and participated in an intensive, immersive training schedule from 9 am to 5 pm., Monday through Friday.
Nineteen Lake County Fire Rescue emergency medical technicians graduated from the program. Upon passing the National Registry exam and completing the medical director’s provisional process, participants will return to field service as fully certified paramedics with advanced lifesaving skills and expanded capabilities.
“Faced with a growing need for highly trained paramedics, we created a new paradigm with FRTG to start this program and invest in our people,” said Lake County Public Safety Director David Kilbury. “This partnership will ensure that our elite team of EMTs receives high-quality, accelerated training so we can continue providing advanced medical care to the communities we serve throughout all of Lake County, Florida.”
