Daytona State College will begin holding a full Paramedic Certificate program at its Flagler/Palm Coast campus for the first time starting in May, the college has announced. The addition of the program will provide new opportunities for students at DSC’s northernmost campus to pursue a career in the emergency medical response field.
Among those optimistic about the potential benefits of the program is Evan Doyle, the director of DSC’s Charles M. Curb School of Emergency Services. “The demand for paramedics and EMTs continues to grow in Flagler and Volusia counties,” Doyle said. “As we transition our first responder programs to the new Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Training Center on the DeLand Campus, we remain committed to ensuring easy accessibility for students and meeting the workforce needs of our agency partners throughout the region.”
Skills for a Career
Those who complete the Paramedic Certificate program at Daytona State College can move quickly into a job working with a local fire department, ambulance service, hospital emergency room, intensive care unit, or helicopter transport agency, the school’s statement says. The program begins with the start of DCS’s summer semester on May 19th. Eligible students are those who have completed an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course and obtained their Florida EMT certification by the end of their first semester.
As described in DSC’s summary, the curriculum of the certificate program includes training for a wide variety of skills used by emergency response personnel in the field. Some such skills include care and management during respiratory, cardiac, medical, and traumatic emergencies. Some of the experience students will gain includes hands-on training IV therapy, airway management, administration of medication, advanced cardiac life support, and critical patient care.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, paramedics earn a mean hourly wage of $27.62 and a mean annual wage of $57,450 as of 2023. Florida is the nation’s third leading employer of paramedics, with 5,870 total individuals employed in the field and 0.61 per thousand jobs per the same report. The Bureau expects a six percent increase in demand for paramedics between 2023 and 2033, lending national credence to Evan Doyle’s hopes for Volusia and Flagler counties.
