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Featured photo: EMT & Fire Academy Graduate Michael Ehlen, pictured at the Skyland Fire Department. (Photo by Rich Keen, Marketing and Communications Dept.)
Marketing and Communications Dept.
The following story was featured in Blue Ridge Community College’s 2023-24 annual report. This report and others are available online on the About Blue Ridge webpage.
When our community calls for first responders, Blue Ridge Community College jumps into action,
providing training to fill staffing needs.
Daniel Wesley, emergency medical services (EMS) program director for Blue Ridge, shared that the best way to understand the needs of local agencies is to meet with them.
“One of the best parts of my job is to meet with county EMS departments, rescue squads, fire departments, law enforcement agencies and even hospitals,” said Wesley. “I get the pleasure to serve the men and women who respond to emergencies daily and put their lives on the line to protect us.”
To expedite the training process, Blue Ridge offers academy-style emergency medical technician (EMT) courses which allow firefighters to obtain this training in eight-and-a-half weeks instead of 16. Blue Ridge also runs certification courses for nearby first responders when requested, including CPR training, advanced cardiac and pediatric life support, pre-hospital trauma life support and more.
One of Blue Ridge’s fire program graduates, Michael Ehlen, works at the Skyland Fire Department. He
has completed the Fire 1, Fire 2 and EMT Basic programs and recently began Blue Ridge’s paramedic
program. By completing a variety of first responder programs at Blue Ridge, Ehlen is preparing for the
broad spectrum of situations he may face in the field.
“The hands-on lab portion helped me learn the most by doing dry runs of getting a manual blood
pressure, conducting primary assessments and using other various tools in our trauma and medical jump
bags,” said Ehlen. “By the end of the EMT program, I was comfortable with using all the equipment we
were trained on.”
An Air Force veteran, Ehlen is passionate about serving others, and his goal is to become a full-time firefighter and paramedic. Ehlen’s story is a testament to Blue Ridge’s perspective on public safety as being “one team, not three separate areas of fire, law enforcement and EMS,” as Wesley notes.
“To be able to meet with all different types of departments, hear their training needs and then to have our
team of public safety training professionals come together to meet those needs—that’s what our job is all
about,” he said.
Read more stories like Ehlen’s in Blue Ridge Community College’s 2023-24 annual report. This report and others are available online on the About Blue Ridge webpage.