By Sherrye Wyatt

Special to the Record

A joint EMS academy graduation was recently held at the Freeland station, with recruits from all three island departments: South Whidbey, Central Whidbey and North Whidbey. Several of these graduates are already involved with answering calls to local emergencies as EMTs.

The South Whidbey Fire/EMS graduates are Leah Kalahiki, Dennis Batey, Rene Kinser, Annette Fly and Couran Therien.

“You may be seeing these recent graduates in our community as active members of South Whidbey Fire/EMS,” said Deputy Chief Wendy Moffatt, who is in charge of training. “They will also continue to attend drills and frequent trainings with the rest of our team. The members of SWFE are dedicated to serve this community to the best of their ability through ongoing training.”

The academy began in January and was 15 weeks of study, training and testing. Coursework started with classroom instruction, including medical terminology, communications, anatomy and more. It then moved into hands-on scenarios.

Many of the new EMTs are working on earning additional certification. Some are actively responding to calls side-by-side with veteran team members of South Whidbey Fire/EMS.

South Whidbey Fire/EMS is already accepting applications for the next EMS academy. To learn more about how to become a volunteer, contact Chief H.L. “Rusty” Palmer at 360-321-1533. Applications may be found at www.swfe.org