Boston EMS graduates 22 EMTs, celebrates seven staff promotions

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today celebrated the graduation of 22 EMT recruits and recognized seven department members recently promoted, in a ceremony at Faneuil Hall held before family and friends. Among those addressing the graduates were Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) Executive Director Monica Valdes Lupi, JD, MPH, and Boston EMS Chief Jim Hooley. The graduating class will be assigned to frontline ambulances across the city.

The Boston EMS Academy graduation commemorated the EMTs’ successful completion of the most extensive EMS post-hire educational program in the country. The recruits, already state-certified EMTs prior to hire, completed an additional 12 weeks of classroom training and practical scenario work, as well as a 15-week field internship program to prepare them to provide the best possible care in a busy evolving urban system. Recruits were trained in a variety of emergency situations, including mass casualty incidents, domestic violence cases, hazardous materials exposures, transportation accidents, recovery services and life-threatening emergencies.

“As one of the leading emergency medical services providers in the country, Boston EMS serves our residents and visitors with compassionate and excellent pre-hospital care,” said Mayor Walsh. “Our EMTs and paramedics are there for us during our most vulnerable moments, offering expert medical care and support. I’m pleased to welcome this new class of recruits and thank them for their service to our City.”

During their training, the recruit class responded to over 3,600 incidents. These calls included illnesses, injuries, cardiac incidents, motor vehicle accidents, deliveries, shootings, stabbings, overdoses and more. Having the assistance of an experienced EMT field training officer throughout many calls and different call types ensures that they are comfortable providing care to patients regardless the circumstance, and also understand the level of care, clinical excellence and professionalism expected of them as Boston EMS EMTs.

Among others recognized at today’s ceremony were two department members who as EMTs became trained and certified paramedics and then completed necessary Boston EMS Paramedic promotional testing and selection, as well as a three-month paramedic internship. Five department EMTs were also honored for their promotion to Lieutenant. They completed a four-month classroom, field and dispatch operations training program, and are now serving as department supervisors.

Boston EMS is one of the busiest municipal EMS providers in the country, responding to over 125,000 clinical incidents per year. As a bureau of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), Boston EMS is committed to serving Boston's residents through clinical excellence, emergency planning and preparedness, and community outreach.

"The emergency, clinical, and community outreach services provided by Boston EMS supports and informs much of our public health programming," said BPHC Executive Director Monica Valdes Lupi, JD, MPH. “Our newest members of Boston EMS will play a vital role in protecting the health of Bostonians every day. We also thank those honored for promotion for their continued service and dedication.”

“I am always most pleased when these ceremonies include both graduating recruits and department promotions, as our hope with every new hire is that they will choose Boston EMS as a career,” said Boston EMS Chief Jim Hooley. “Recognizing our newest members, as well as those who have already committed so much of themselves to the department and their City, at such a historic venue makes this a particularly special event.”

In Mayor Walsh's Fiscal Year 2018 budget, Mayor Walsh increased the funding for EMS by nearly $1.4 million over the previous year that enabled the department to replace seven ambulances to support EMS services. To learn more about Boston’s budget, please visit here.

The Boston Public Health Commission, the country's oldest health department, is an independent public agency providing a wide range of health services and programs. It is governed by a seven-member board of health appointed by the Mayor of Boston.

Public service and access to quality health care are the cornerstones of our mission - to protect, preserve, and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly those who are most vulnerable. The Commission's more than 40 programs are grouped into six bureaus: Child, Adolescent & Family Health; Community Health Initiatives; Homeless Services; Infectious Disease; Recovery Services; and Emergency Medical Services.

Boston EMS, the provider of emergency medical services for the City of Boston, is committed to compassionately delivering excellent pre-hospital care and to protecting the safety and health of the public.

Boston EMS’ vision is to expand upon our role as critical public safety agency that delivers exceptional pre-hospital emergency medicine in an urban environment.