Lexington County PARAMEDIC Course Class of 2004

On June 10, 2004, Lexington County EMS celebrated the graduation of 11 personnel from the Emergency Medical Technician – Paramedic Training program.

Pictured left to right is Barry Fifield, John Haus, Glenda Thames (Honor Roll), Training Officer Patty Labbe, R. J. Ocheltree, Sonia Durham Bodie, Jaime Jolly, Megan Timmons, Ian Harmon, Mandy Luckadoo and Cory Cotterman. Not pictured – Lynn Roldan.

All graduates successfully completed a 45-hour state-approved Anatomy & Physiology course in order to participate in the program. Paramedic training consisted of 1000 hours divided as follows:

Classroom instruction: 349 didactichours and 147 practicalhours
Field Competency, Internship / Evaluation: 260hours
Clinical Rotations: 244hours

During clinical training, the students demonstrated the ability to:

• Safely administer medications.
• Safely perform endotracheal intubation.
• Gain venous access on patients of various age groups.
• Ventilate unintubated patients of various age groups.
• Perform a comprehensive assessment on patients of any age.
• Perform a comprehensive assessment, formulate, and implement a treatment plan on obstetric and psychiatric patients, patients with chest pain, respiratory distress, syncope related symptoms, abdominal complaints (abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, GI bleeding, gynecological complaints, etc.) and altered mental status.
• Serve as a team leader during pre-hospital emergencies.

All of the candidates must now successfully pass the National Registry EMT-Paramedic Practical & Written Examinations prior to receiving a South Carolina EMT-Paramedic state certification.