Detroit Fire Dept. Graduates First Paramedic Class

The Detroit Fire Department graduated 28 EMTs from its first paramedic class. This marks a major expansion. Advanced life-saving care will now reach more areas across the city.

The 10-month program was intense. Graduates can now provide advanced life support while keeping their current positions.

The training squeezed what would take two years into a faster track. Classes met five days per week for 10 months.

"It's very beneficial because I can do more," said Danielle Nunn, a graduate who has been with the department for eight years," Nunn said, according to WXYZ.

Tyler Ensign has worked as an EMT for 15 years. He finished the program while welcoming a baby boy 10 days ago, juggling the tough schedule with family life.

"It was crammed into a lot to get it done as soon as possible so we can start hitting the streets," Ensign said.

The graduation comes after the fire department overcame staffing problems. In 2022, the department faced a shortage of 200 firefighters and 100 EMS workers. Now? However, it's now fully staffed.

"As everyone knows, years ago especially during bankruptcy, we had very few rigs on the street very, few ambulances. We probably had a shortage of manpower and things of that nature. Now today, we have anywhere from 40 to 42 ambulances on the street every single day and we have about 200 to 250 more personnel than we did just a few years ago," said Charles Simms, executive fire commissioner.

Simms stressed the program shows commitment to employees. "It lets them know that we care about them. We appreciate they're on the job and we're going to help and do whatever we can to make sure they can advance on this job as well as get more educated on this job," he stated to the local media outlet.

Nunn expressed excitement about the training quality, saying she never imagined the department would offer such excellent instruction. "I never thought that we would have the education that we have now. It's very excellent and it's for the future and I am very excited for this department," she said, as shared by the media outlet.

Ensign believes residents will benefit, as he told the media outlet: "The city deserves that. They deserve having paramedics coming to them that can do as much as possible and not just transport them to the hospital."

Graduates will go through three to four months of field training before staffing ambulances as paramedics throughout Detroit.