Whidbey Island fire district’s volunteer emergency medical technician numbers are about to swell.

The newest batch of trainees have all passed the National Registry Examination and are on the verge of becoming certified medical responders for their respective fire districts. While all 16 who took the exam passed, two more trainees are scheduled to take the test next week.

South Whidbey Fire/EMS will accrue six of the 16 new emergency medical technician (or EMT) once they file their applications for state certification. The class is open island-wide, churning out EMTs for multiple jurisdictions such as South, Central and North Whidbey.

The unanimous passing grade announcement was met with applause from the fire chiefs and commissioners at the monthly Fire/EMS meeting on May 12. It doesn’t often happen that all participating trainees pass their exams, said South Whidbey Fire/EMS Division Chief Wendy Moffatt during the meeting.

South Whidbey Fire/EMS currently has 40 volunteer EMTs on staff, with the number rising to 46 once the new additions become state certified. According to Moffatt, the additional manpower comes at a welcome time with an aging volunteer force that is trying to improve response time.

“We will be able to get personnel out there to the community faster when they call 9-1-1,” Moffatt said. “That’s our ultimate goal here, and it can be a difficult goal with a volunteer force.”

Moffatt says the volunteers are a diverse group of people ranging in age from 18 year olds to retirees. All trainees went through a rigorous in-house state sanctioned EMT class that clocked up 181 hours per trainee. The program lasted about eight weeks, from Jan. 13 to April 9, Moffatt said.