Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s AirCare team of Roger Horton and Barry McMillian claimed the title at the 28th Annual Paramedic Competition held this week in Greensboro, marking the second time in four years that the AirCare team from Wake Forest Baptist has won the event. The victory marked the fourth in the past decade for Horton and McMillian, who also triumphed at the competition in 2009 and 2010 while working for Surry County.
Horton and McMillian were among six top teams from across the state in this year’s competition, part of the North Carolina EMS Expo, an educational conference that brings together paramedics, EMTs and county emergency services directors to sharpen their skills with presentations from faculty from across the state and the U.S.
Tom Mitchell, chief of the N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services, announced the winners at a banquet held Tuesday evening to cheers and applause from hundreds of the winners’ peers.
"All of the teams in this competition are winners. They are North Carolina’s best of the best in emergency medical response,” said Mitchell. “We offer our special congratulations to this year’s winners."
In the competition, teams are sequestered, and each takes turns to assess, treat and stabilize victims in a scenario that lasts 13 minutes. They must move quickly and use their experience, education and training to provide care to the victims. Teams are judged on professionalism, communication, patient rapport, conduct, attitude, appearance and attire.
The competition is watched by hundreds of their peers from bleachers set up inside a ballroom at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center. The five victims in this scenario were at a professional wrestling match. Each paramedic team treated a total of five patients, ranging from spectators, an unresponsive child and an adult male who collapsed on the floor, and a wrestler who suffered head and neck trauma during the match. Spectators with less severe symptoms included an adult female with a laceration to her left arm and an adult male reporting a severe headache.
“This is the first time our scenario has included as many as five patients, so all of the teams had to bring their A-game to compete for the win,” added Mitchell.
The competition provides a training opportunity not only for the competitors, but also for the paramedics and emergency medical technicians who closely observe each team's analysis and reaction to the scenario. Large video screens display close-up views of procedures as each team administers care.
Through the Office of Emergency Medical Services, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services works to foster emergency medical systems, trauma systems and credentialed EMS personnel to improve in providing responses to emergencies and disasters. For more information, visit ncems.org.