Vinton Town Council recognized Paramedic/Firefighter Chad Dailey for his accomplishment of achieving his National Registry Paramedic Certification through the Jefferson College of Health Sciences. He was presented to council on March 20 by Deputy Chief Chris Linkous who explained that this is the highest certification in the profession of emergency medical care.

Dailey first came to work with Vinton Fire and EMS as an EMT in 2015. Prior to working for the town, Dailey worked at Carilion as an EMT for two years and also volunteered at the Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department for five years and with the Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad for three years.

Shortly after being hired by the Town of Vinton, Dailey finished one year of schooling to become an EMT-Intermediate so that he could provide advanced life support care to our citizens.

For the next year, he continued his education with Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and a Neonate Resuscitation Program.

After gaining experience with providing advanced life support, Dailey decided that he wanted to continue his education.

“With great support from the Town of Vinton, Chad applied to the Jefferson College of Health Sciences for the EMT-Intermediate to Paramedic Bridge Course,” said Linkous. “Over the course of a grueling 10 months, while continuing his normal work schedule, Chad devoted over 500 hours of combined Class, Clinical, and Field Internship time on days, nights, and weekends that he wasn’t already working.”

After finishing all the requirements to test, Dailey passed his NREMT-P written and practical tests and is now certified as a Nationally Registered Paramedic. He plans to continue his dedicated service to the citizens of Vinton for many years to come as a Paramedic/Firefighter.

“Congratulations to Chad for earning his NREMT-P,” said Linkous. “I would like to point out that this brings us up to six (half of the staff) that are certified as a Paramedic/Firefighter.”