EMT Academy Class 30 Graduation
The Hall Ambulance Community Center was filled to capacity as family members and Company leadership gathered for a commencement ceremony honoring 19 graduates of the Hall EMT Academy.
Over 1,800 people applied for a spot in Class 30 of the Hall EMT Academy, which was promoted through social media and job recruitment websites. Those accepted in to the program come from diverse work histories including food servers, a fitness advisor, data entry clerk and four having served in the military. One goal of the program is to provide an achievable career track that puts them on the path to self sufficiency.
The Hall EMT Academy is not a school, but a pathway to starting a career at Hall Ambulance. Recruits are full-time employees who learn everything they need to get started working as an emergency medical technician in the Hall Ambulance 9-1-1 system.
During eight weeks of intensive classroom training, the recruits were introduced to the entire spectrum of EMS care including airway, respiration and ventilation; cardiology & resuscitation; trauma; obstetrics; and EMS operations.
Upon completion of the coursework, they prepared for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians exam. All nineteen Hall EMT Academy recruits successfully passed the exam on their first attempt.
With their new EMT certification, the recruits have started approximately five weeks of field training on advanced life support ambulances. Once they have successfully fulfilled all objectives, they will then be eligible to begin working in the Hall Ambulance system, assigned to either a Basic Life Support or Advanced Life Support ambulance.
Opportunity for the graduates does not stop there. Hall Ambulance Service has developed a proven career-path in which a motivated employee can fast track their EMS career, starting with the Hall EMT Academy; followed by Company-sponsored paramedic school and the opportunity to promote to a paramedic field supervisor, and even a position in administration or leadership.
Since its inception in 2001, 325 recruits have gone through the Hall EMT Academy, with 88 still employed by the Company. Twenty-four have become paramedics, with four working as paramedic field supervisors, nine working as paramedics, one working as a scheduler and another having worked their way up to the position of assistant manager of the ambulance division.
The rate of pay for a Hall EMT is $29,500 – $60,000 (EMT Academy recruits work at a reduced wage during training); the base rate for a paramedic is $40,000 – $80,000; and a paramedic field supervisor starts at $65,000.