The Memphis Fire Department received accreditation as a paramedic education program from the Tennessee Department of Health Division Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board, the first fire department in Tennessee to do so. The department now teaches its own paramedics internally.

Gary Ludwig, Deputy Fire Chief says, “Meeting the regulations set forth by the Tennessee Department of Health took 18 months of hard work, research, planning, and preparation. The Emergency Medical Services Training Division of the Memphis Fire Department rose to the challenge by meeting the same state requirements for program approval as colleges and universities.”

The new paramedic program education accreditation will allow the fire department to enhance the education of firefighters with only the basic EMT education and licensure to the advanced emergency medical care level of paramedic. At the end of Sept., 36 firefighters began the program at the department. An additional 120 firefighters are slated to receive paramedic education over the next several years.