By Ken Lay
Eight University of Tennessee Police Department officers graduated from a medical training course late Thursday afternoon.
It was a brief but emotional ceremony for the inaugural class, who completed an eight week, 75-hour course conducted through a partnership between UTPD and American Medical Response-East Tennessee. The officers are now certified to perform medical treatment other than basic first aid and CPR.
“We all know that seconds matter and we know that in an emergency situation, you may be by yourself for a while, [though] you know that KFD, KPD and other help is coming,” said UTPD training officer Mike Williams. “This gives our officers the opportunity to serve our community in enhanced ways.
“Seconds can be the difference between life and death.”
Williams commended the officers for their selflessness.
“Being a police officer is hard and you have to be willing to help people on their worst day,” he said. “You have to have your best day when someone else is having their worst day.
“When we started this program, I asked why you wanted to be a police officer, and I can bet that all eight of these people sitting here would say they were in it to help people.”
The officers who completed the program were trained in multiple situations from delivering a baby to medical assessment, bleeding control, tourniquet application, airway management, AED use and other lifesaving interventions.
These skills can be utilized during medical emergencies, traumatic injuries, active threats and mass casualty events.
AMR Regional Manager Greg Miller had kind and encouraging words for the inaugural class of the Emergency Medical Responders program.
“This is the inaugural class to graduate from this program, and you can’t be No. 1 if there’s not going to be No. 2,” Miller said. “Being a police officer and working in public safety is a thankless job.
“It’s a selfless job and these officers have taken selflessness to another level. They’ve sacrificed 75 hours when they could’ve been doing something else.”
