Paramedic Staff Expands

Newly Promoted Paramedics Zak Yanska, Steve Lienard, Jay Morse, and Bryan Ferguson

Chief Of Department John A. Dodson announced today that four (4) Department members have successfully completed a special, eighteen-month, training program offered by the Department. The new paramedics began an extensive internship, under the direction of the Department’s senior paramedics. The program consisted of classroom instruction, self study and many hours of “ride along” experience under the watchful eyes of veteran instructors and included a one hundred question written examination and multiple station practical skills examination.

The four newly promoted paramedics, Bryan Ferguson, Steve Lienard, Jay Morse and Zak Yanska will officially begin functioning as primary paramedics April 1, 2014, staffing the Department’s two ambulances located in the Glen Arbor and Empire stations.

Prior to qualifying for the Department’s training and certification, the candidates all received training and certification as paramedics by the State Of Michigan and the National Registry. During this period, the aspiring paramedics, beginning as EMT-Basics, attended one thousand (1,000) classroom hours and participated in over five hundred (500) hours of hands-on “practicals” which included many hours participating in actual, medical emergency calls.

The Department’s philosophy regarding the extensive additional training, according to Chief Dodson, is based on the Department’s large coverage area and the distance to Munson Hospital.