County Brings EMT Training To East End During Pandemic

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A new class was created to help provide emergency medical technician training on the East End, where there has long been a dearth of options.

According to Suffolk County Community College, EMT training and education is a continuing process of "individual certification, reinforcement, and the recertification of knowledge and skills."

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Suffolk County Community College’s emergency medical care and fire programs coordinator, as well as professor and assistant academic Chair Matt Zukosky, sought a solution to train the next generation of first responders in Southampton Village.

“Ours is an ever-changing body of knowledge and skills and training,” Zukosky said.

Zukosky, a paramedic for 23 years with almost 30 years of experience in fire and emergency medical services, proposed bringing instruction from Suffolk’s campuses directly to Southampton Village in partnership with the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance.

The class, he said, would be offered in the village’s newly opened volunteer ambulance facility on Windmill Lane, which is equipped with state-of-the-art classrooms large enough for students to maintain social distancing while learning in-person and hands-on.

Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance Chief Cheyne Finocchiaro said in the past, training courses were typically run by Suffolk County through the Department of Health with limited options on the East End.

“We were able to work with Matt in developing a program that would offer us a local class. Our goal has always been to host local training,” Finocchiaro, an alumni of Suffolk County Community College, said.

The college and village executed an agreement for the spring semester to offer the college’s emergency medical care I course on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to 12 students at the new facility, a release said.

“It is so appropriate for us to embed our educational work within the community,” said Dr. Paul Beaudin, Suffolk County Community College’s vice president for academic and student affairs. “Professor Zukosky’s initiative reminds us that where there is a need, that is where we belong,” he said.

“EMTs and paramedics were in high demand prior to the pandemic, but since then the demands have only escalated along with the medical needs of communities,” Zukosky said. “I appreciate the college’s confidence in me to allow an alternate teaching location that will have a great impact in our community. I am also fortunate to have a professional, dedicated, and innovative faculty from within the EMS community.”

While national data on the number of EMT openings is unavailable, pre-pandemic data did indicate rapid growth in the paramedic/EMT field, the release said. Data released in 2019 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed the number of EMT and paramedic jobs was expected to grow by 17,000, a 6 percent growth rate, higher than the average growth rate of 4 percent, SCCC said

The current class will graduate its members in May; plans are underway to continue the remote training partnership in the fall, Zukosky said.