Located at sites across UVM Health Network, the effort to train more emergency responders seeks to address a longstanding challenge for rural health care
Vermont Business Magazine A Paramedic Training Program serving organizations and communities across University of Vermont Health Network and supported by state and federal funding is working to address a longstanding challenge for rural health care by expanding access to education for aspiring paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and reliable access to advanced first responder care for communities throughout Vermont and northern New York.
The system-wide Paramedic Training Program – an expansion of efforts launched in 2018 at University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital – is an essential expansion of paramedic education opportunities in Vermont. Prior to the program’s launch two years ago, Vermont had just one paramedic training pipeline.
Expanding access to high-quality, affordable first responder education is crucial as health care organizations look to address a crisis of paramedic and EMS shortages across rural communities nationwide.
“In many cases, people can be stabilized and taken to the emergency room and we’re not doing these high-level interventions and administering complicated medications,” said Sarah Lamb, lead instructor for the program’s Burlington-based classroom. “Sometimes, patients don’t have that time – and it’s not a quick, ten-minute drive to the hospital. By intervening quickly, we can improve patients’ outcomes.”
Sarah Lamb, lead instructor for the program’s Burlington-based classroom. UVMHN photos.
The curriculum includes immersive lab sessions, cadaver labs and one-on-one clinical time with EMS-trained physicians – experiences Lamb describes as “game changers” for students.
“These are invaluable learning experiences,” said Lamb. “Training on mannequins just doesn’t prepare you and getting one-on-one time with EMS- and ED-trained physicians on things like patient assessments and handoffs – that’s just really unique.”
The program currently enrolls 28 students, with a 100% post-graduation placement rate for graduates within a 45-minute drive of their home. In May, the program earned the final stage of a muti-year accreditation process that includes meeting benchmarks for retention, quality and other measures of performance.
“Our goal is to have paramedic-level care available for everyone throughout our region,” said Joshua LaDuke, the program’s director. “Without that option, people in an emergency get life-stabilization care from first responders. The ability of the paramedic to recognize the need for more advanced care, begin treatment while transporting and get patients to the correct level of hospital care is the difference.”
Instructor of the Year
Lamb, a paramedic who has worked at various EMS agencies in the region for more than a decade, started her career as a first responder in 2010. She began volunteering as an EMT after earning her certification as a college student. After deciding to forego graduate school for GIS mapping, Lamb decided to enroll in paramedic school through Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.
Lamb would go on to work in a wide range of EMS agencies, from those serving urban centers to more rural communities, before she ultimately returned to the area and took a job as training officer at Richmond Rescue. There, she currently serves as a full-time paramedic in addition to her role leading the health system’s paramedic training efforts in Vermont.
Lamb also has years of experience volunteering as an emergency responder with Essex Rescue and other EMS agencies in the region – largely helping to train volunteers and employees and create paramedic training programs. She has also served as an instructor at Vermont State University’s paramedic training program.
Earlier this year, Lamb was honored as EMS Educator of the Year by Vermont Department of Health, which called her “impact on EMS education, both as a teacher and a leader … immeasurable.” She called the honor a surprise that was especially meaningful for her.
“Medicine and education were two fields I never had any interest in until I got into paramedicine,” said Lamb. “I love training with people and sharing my knowledge and the mistakes that I have made over time. The field is dedicated entirely to giving back to our community, and I love working with people who love to do that.”
Longstanding Efforts
Work addressing the chronic shortage of paramedics and emergency medical first responders across the region has been underway since before the COVID-19 pandemic. In late 2018, Elizabethtown Community Hospital launched a Paramedic Training Program.
The program, accredited by New York State Department of Health, was the first of its kind in the region. It offers advanced medical training in academic, clinical and in-the-field settings, and is a collaboration between the hospital and dozens of health care organizations and EMS agencies in New York and Vermont. The 18-month program offers hands-on clinical training at 15 regional health care organizations and 30 EMS agencies across northern New York and Vermont. Graduates receive Advanced Life Support (ALS) certification and are prepared to sit for the New York State Paramedic Certification exam.
“Paramedics are critical to providing pre-hospital emergency health care services, especially in rural communities where the closest hospital may be an hour away,” said Bruce Barry, the program’s director. “Skilled medical providers are needed now more than ever. The North County, like rural regions across the nation, continues to face a longstanding and mounting shortage of paramedics. By ‘growing our own,’ we can ensure our communities have access to safe, high-quality life-saving emergency medical first response care.”
At the time the hospital’s program launched, only 113 certified paramedics served a five-county region that is home to more than 300,000 year-round residents and covers approximately 6,500 square miles. Since 2018 the program has graduated 39 certified paramedics, all of whom have gone on to serve at various emergency response agencies caring for communities in the region.
About University of Vermont Health Network
University of Vermont Health Network is an integrated system serving the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives.
The partners are:
- University of Vermont Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
- University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
- University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
- University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
- University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health & Hospice
The University of Vermont Health Network UVMHealth.org
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