MountainView Hospital, a full-service teaching hospital in northwest Las Vegas, celebrated its third graduating class of Paramedics from the hospital’s Paramedic Institute. Cohort 3 included 50 students from nine agencies throughout Southern Nevada.
Launched in late 2020, the MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute is currently the only hospital in Las Vegas, as well within HCA Healthcare, to offer an extensive education and training program for prehospital professionals throughout the Las Vegas Valley.
The Cohort 3 of paramedic provider students took part in a 57-week program that involved a stringent didactic regimen, skills practice lab, and hands-on clinical immersion. MountainView partnered with local Fire Departments and private EMS agencies in creation of the program. Students attending the institute were sponsored by each agency. The valedictorian of cohort 3 is Lisa Martin, from Las Vegas Fire & Rescue.
“This is truly a community effort. HCA Healthcare, along with our community partners, are proving that great things happen when we leverage individual assets together to achieve a common goal,” said Troy Tuke, RN, NREMT-P, MountainView Hospital Paramedic Program Director. “Our students are arriving in the field ready to work and take excellent care of the residents and visitors of the Las Vegas Valley.”
The most recent cohort included students representing nine SNHD Licensed EMS agencies including Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, Henderson Fire Department, North Las Vegas Fire Department, Boulder City Fire Department, Moapa Fire Department, Community Ambulance, AMR and Medic West Ambulance.
To graduate, students completed 57 weeks of a clinically immersive program, two didactic blocks with two clinical block rotations. Students also had to complete numerous industry certifications, including Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS), Pre Hospital Trauma Life support among others. Students also had to successfully complete the National Registry of EMT Psychomotor exam, the Southern Nevada Health District Protocol Exam and successful completion of an agency field internship. This qualified each student to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians Paramedic cognitive exam.
Graduates from cohort 3 have all passed their NREMT cognitive exam and are working in the field as Paramedics.
“Congratulations to the third cohort of MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute graduates; the commitment these men and women have made to not just their careers, but to our community is to be commended,” said Hiral Patel, MountainView Hospital Chief Executive Officer. “We also couldn’t provide this vital education without our agency partners; their support is vital for the medical professionals in our community.”
The need for paramedic schools in Southern Nevada is great, as the area, much like the rest of the nation, is experiencing a Paramedic/EMS provider shortage. This has been exasperated by an aging workforce, and overall decline in interest in the paramedic profession.
The MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute is now in its fourth cohort of 59 students.
MountainView Hospital is a regional leader in medical education, including paramedics, nursing and pharmacy. MountainView is also home to the Sunrise Health Graduate Medical Education Consortium, which includes more than 250 residents and fellows in numerous disciplines including emergency medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, radiology, anesthesiology and OBGYN, physical medicine and rehabilitation.
