Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District provided the following news release:

Included in the 2011 Paramedic Class Graduates for the Southern Fox Valley Emergency Medical Services System were Bristol Kendall Fire Department members Lt. Brandon Fairfield and Firefighter Eric Jones.

The graduation ceremony took place at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Illinois. The 2011 Paramedic Graduation Class was one of the largest class to graduate from the Southern Fox Valley Emergency Medical Services System. The class started out with thirty-three students and graduated twenty eight paramedics.

As part of the ceremonies the EMS Medical Director Dr. Steven Holtsford delivered a speech describing the commitment it took to undergo the eleven (11) months of intense training leading up to successful graduation. The training involves both classroom and didactic education to prepare the paramedic for field pre-hospital care in some of the worst conditions that could be imagined. Dr. Holtsford described that physicians deliver the same care in a controlled atmosphere with unlimited resources, while paramedics duplicate that care in their communities under the most challenging conditions with limited resources.

Although the initial paramedic training has been completed, the Illinois Licensed Paramedic is required to complete one-hundred twenty (120) hours of continuing education every four years to maintain that license.