From Classroom to Crisis: Paramedic Students Enter Intensive Drill Phase
The students in Paramedic Training Class 51 are wrapping up their second semester, and the pressure is on. With six months of intensive classroom and clinical learning under their belts, they’re now putting their knowledge to the test in full-scale, high-stress simulation drills that mirror the critical emergencies they’ll face in the field.
Over the past few weeks, students have responded to mock calls involving traumatic injuries, cardiac arrests, strokes, and complex respiratory cases. In these drills, professional actors and advanced life-like manikins play the roles of patients, while seasoned instructors observe, assess, and offer real-time feedback.
“These simulations are designed to push students out of their comfort zones,” says Eric Timm, Director of Paramedic Training. “They’re not just reviewing protocols—they’re applying their skills under pressure, making rapid decisions, and learning to function as a team when the stakes feel real.”
From managing an impalement injury in a trauma scenario to stabilizing a seizing infant during the pediatric medical drill, students are challenged to remain calm, think critically, and deliver care with precision. Pediatric calls in particular add an extra layer of emotional and clinical complexity, as trainees navigate smaller airways, lower drug dosages, and the anxiety that naturally comes with treating children.
Mistakes are not only expected—they’re encouraged. Instructors emphasize that drills are where lessons stick best. “We’d rather see errors now, when we can talk through them, than out in the field where lives are on the line.”
Thanks to donor support, students now train with cutting-edge pediatric manikins that offer even more realistic feedback, further enhancing their ability to prepare for high-stakes, low-frequency situations.
As Mike Rennock, Seattle Fire Department, put it, “I feel like the training up to this point has prepared us for these moments, so I think we do all the things we’re supposed to do and treat the patients as we would out in the field.” Additionally, ”the realism of the scenario is a part of being away from the classroom, in a different facility, using props, special effects makeup, and actors who are screaming and yelling– this helps us feel like we are in a real-life scenario.”
By the end of the year, Mike and their fellow classmates will be ready to return to their agencies, bringing their skills, their training, and their confidence into every life they touch.
