Training & Professional Development

Worthington Fire & EMS takes a very aggressive approach to EMS training and professional development. Any notion that our firefighters have completed all their needed training once they achieve their paramedic certification is miles from the truth.

The two basic categories of education in which our personnel engage are those held in-house and those classified as "outside training". In-house is literal and means internal and external instructors provide continuing education in an unlimited number of emergency medical topics. These classes are often presented by our own firefighters or one of our physician medical advisors. We maintain a stock of training equipment such as mannequins, airway trainers, and IV practice arms to facilitate the educational experience. There is also a multi-media equipped training classroom at the fire station (that doubles as the city's primary Emergency Operations Center).

External training is available in wide and varied formats. When budgets allow and/or an exclusive training opportunity presents itself, personnel may be approved to attend local or distant training. Sometimes this knowledge is brought back and taught to Worthington personnel, and might include new equipment or techniques able to be incorporated into emergency responses. We are very fortunate that there are a considerable number of Ohio medical institutions that offer continuing education opportunities for EMS providers, some at no cost. Historically, these may feature not only didactic medical topics, but also those addressing how unusual incidents (such as mass casualty and/or multi-victim shootings) were handled and all the hard lessons learned.

We have a program called "Medic Monday" where topics are presented to on-duty personnel.

At certain intervals we schedule proficiency testing where skill check sheets are used to evaluate the ability of our personnel to perform medical procedures.