Orange County Campus hosts new, fast-track paramedic course for Air Force personnel

Stephanie Turner
Jan 28, 2020

 

air force paramedic students Five U.S. Air Force members are completing an innovative new paramedic course at Durham Tech this month that allows service members to complete the credential in less than half the standard time.

It typically takes at least 10 months to undergo the Durham Tech paramedic course, according to David Silfen, Director of the Durham Tech Emergency Medical Science program. The military students will finish in less than half that time.

“This program is super accelerated. There was little margin for error,” Silfen said. “We have to work in the confines of what they want us to do. The pre-planning was a lot.”

This is the first time Durham Tech has offered such a program.

“We are hoping that this is the first cohort of many and excited that Durham Tech was the college they picked to partner with for this group to become paramedics,” said Penny Gluck, Executive Dean of Orange County Services.

Though the program required a lot of discipline from the students, its rigorous nature wasn’t unfamiliar to at least some of them.

SSgt. Chris Warner, an independent duty medical technician who is based in Utah, said those in his profession attend school for four months in order to become licensed.

“We are used to 12-, 14-hour days, studying late at night and the homework and then working on the weekends,” he said.

SMSgt. Jason Weiss, a friend of Silfen’s, initially proposed the idea of this fast-track program to Silfen. The students came from as close to North Carolina to as far away as Japan.

“We try to make them feel welcome,” Silfen said. “Most of my students here, they go home to family and stuff like that, so we want them to have a certain comfort level.”

For example, Silfen invited them over to his house for a cookout one evening, and the Durham Tech staff helped arrange their discounted memberships to a gym in Hillsborough.

The usual minimum class size is eight students, but given the newness and demand of this program, the staff was content to work with the five students.

“This is the smallest class we ever had,” Silfen said. “We usually don’t take less than eight. We took the five because of the learning curve, to see what we have to do. There were a lot of unknowns. We will know next time if they want to send us eight, we know what we have to do.”

In addition to in-person courses, the students completed some of their required work online and participated in clinicals at local hospitals and flight medic training.

Warner said that interacting with local civilians was a highlight of the program.

“It’s good to get a broader spectrum of medical, sick, and different types of trauma,” he said. “We don’t see a lot of traumas beyond what you’d expect military to see as far as medical sick patients.”

Local agencies, such as Duke University Hospital, UNC Medical Center, and Guilford County Emergency Medical Services, chipped in their services. James Johnson and Jennifer Peoples with Orange County Emergency Services, and former Durham Tech students, were the lead instructors for the Durham Tech portion of the program, which finished in December.

“Jenn and James have really guided the course to where it needs to go,” Warner said. “They have been receptive to our educational needs and learning what we already know or don’t know.”

The students will finish the program with certifications as paramedics and flight medics.

For more information on the Emergency Medical Services program at Durham Tech, visit bit.ly/39Tq5K6.

ems staff air force group paramedic course

Related:

Contact Stephanie Turner, Marketing and Media Relations Coordinator, at turners@durhamtech.edu for more.