With a first-time pass rate at 14 percent above the national average on their national licensure exam, the students in the second cohort of the Bainbridge College (BC) Paramedic Technology Program serve as a reminder of the quality education available to area residents.

Among the group are five who had graduated from the BC Emergency Medical Technology (EMT) Program, which provides the foundation for the more advanced paramedic training.

The students, who all have full-time employment as paramedics, received their certificates Dec. 15 at BC’s Charles H. Kirbo Regional Center.

They are David Grubbs and Tori Read, both of Attapulgus; Mark Hall of Climax; Jesse Griffin and Stephen Payne, both of Colquitt, and Tammy Wilson of Bainbridge. Griffin, Grubbs, Hall, Read and Wilson are also graduates of BC’s EMT Program.

Read gave the student welcome after Technical Studies Division Interim Chair Barbara Stephens welcomed the more than 50 persons in the audience.

As guest speaker, Seminole County Emergency Medical Services Director Toby Roland challenged the new paramedics to keep growing in their field, in knowledge and in compassion.

BC’s EMS Programs Coordinator Randy Williams told his students how proud he is of their perseverance and the difference they do and will make in the lives of others.

Also assisting with the program were Mary Grimes, Martha Mitchell and Beverly Thompson.