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Five U.S. Air Force members are completing an innovative new paramedic course at 91��Ƭ��Pro 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 91��Ƭ��Pro paramedic course, according to David Silfen, Director of the 91��Ƭ��Pro 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 91��Ƭ��Pro has offered such a program.

“We are hoping that this is the first cohort of many and excited that 91��Ƭ��Pro 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 91��Ƭ��Pro 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 91��Ƭ��Pro students, were the lead instructors for the 91��Ƭ��Pro 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 91��Ƭ��Pro, visit bit.ly/39Tq5K6.

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Related:

• A Day in the Life: 91��Ƭ��Pro Basic Law Enforcement Training: December 5, 2017
• 91��Ƭ��Pro supports veterans of all branches, backgrounds: November 11, 2019

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