It’s been a year and half since the idea got rolling, but at 8 a.m. this morning, Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS became a paramedic-level squad.

Nine EMT-Ps on the squad are certified paramedics; another takes final tests next week and an 11^th is in class.

“It took us a year to do the class at Beaufort County Community College and 500 hours of clinical time per person,” said Capt. Doug Bissette, Washington’s EMS coordinator.

Those 500 hours were split into two segments: 200 hours in the emergency room at Vidant-Beaufort Hospital and 300 hours spent on rescue trucks, learning from other paramedic squads. Since Chocowinity EMS, at the time, was too new of a paramedic-level squad, Washington’s paramedics in training were required to travel, riding with Pitt (County) EMS, Winterville EMS, Greenville Fire and Rescue, Eastern Pines EMS and Farmville EMS, Bissette said.

The paramedic designation is the latest in a series of upgrades for the Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS. Over the past several years, the squad has worked its way up from a basic rescue designation, to intermediate-level certification, to heavy rescue certification in October 2014. In 2012, grant money allowed them to purchase a new rescue truck — a truck built in Washington by emergency truck manufacturer VT Hackney — that’s been stocked with equipment required for the heavy rescue cert. For Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS, becoming a paramedic-level squad is another way to provide better service to the community.

“It’s upgraded services — there’s more stuff we can do for the citizens of Washington,” said firefighter/EMT-Paramedic Timmy Chandler.

“It takes them to the highest level of pre-hospital care,” said Washington City Manager Brian Alligood. “It will save lives. There’s no doubt about that.”

Alligood, a former paramedic, said he was glad to put his support behind the move to paramedic when Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS officials first brought it up.

“We have some dedicated folks here who have made that happen,” Alligood said.

In addition to the pit-crew CPR the squad has adopted — basically a type of onsite CPR performed by multiple people — paramedic-level service improves the odds of survival for Washington residents in emergency cases.

“We’re just trying to give you a chance to get to the hospital so you can get more treatment,” Bissette said.