Becoming a certified paramedic, emergency medical technician (EMT) or firefighter requires sufficient hands-on training, and Moraine Valley Community College is meeting the need for training in each of these fields with plans to grow.
At Moraine Valley, students can earn an EMT certificate required to work on an ambulance and an Emergency Medical Services (Paramedic) certificate providing more advanced training. With an EMT license, anyone can apply for the college’s Fire Academy, a competitive 10-week program running full days, Monday through Friday. The academy comprises 16 students per cohort and has expanded to being offered twice during each semester. This fall, the program also offered some courses it had not provided in years, including a fire officer training class and another for building inspectors in training.
The college has a garage for an ambulance, trailer, fire engine and fire truck; however, the program faces challenges in expanding to meet student demand and community need. In fact, some of the hands-on training requires moving the vehicles out of the garage to make more room.
“Once students are in this competitive program and start the academy, there’s less than a 1% washout rate. Between EMS, fire and paramedic training, they can do all those pieces under the same roof at Moraine Valley,” Hufnagl emphasized. “We’ve had a number of students go through our program, get hired in a fire department full time and then come back here and teach with us, which they’re so excited to do.”
In addition to scholarship opportunities for students in these programs, Moraine Valley’s Fire Academy has agreements with 13 fire departments in the area, which allows students smooth transitions to internships.
When Martina Pereyra, of Bedford Park, was looking into potential careers, she contacted local fire departments to ask how to enter the field. All of them recommended Moraine Valley’s program. Before graduating in 2024, she worked through the academy and had an internship at the Roberts Park Fire Protection District, where she now works as a firefighter paramedic.
“We had a ton of hands-on training at Moraine Valley, and it helped me out tremendously,” Pereyra explained. “A lot of what Moraine Valley teaches you is similar to what’s out there, and the college truly prepares you for what it’s like in the field. The intensity of the training is almost the same as it is working in real life.”
When Moraine Valley Fire Academy graduates are hired, they just “plug-and-play” what they learned, according to Andy Hufnagl, Emergency Medical Services/Fire Science coordinator. In an ever-growing field, that type of training benefits students, fire departments and communities alike.
“Fire service and EMS are constantly evolving. When I went through school, we had heavy steel bottles – now they are ergonomically designed. There’s higher technology equipment; you can scan for people and find them inside buildings. Drones and all the technology have vastly improved,” Hufnagl said. “The realistic hands-on training we can provide students through numerous instructors with numerous backgrounds and experience help students get what it’s like to work in the fire service and learn different ways of doing things. Our program is a phenomenal way for people who wish to give back to the community to help fellow citizens in their worst time of need, and, as a benefit, it pays well with great benefits and is AI proof – you don’t have to worry about losing your job.”
Pereyra is grateful for Moraine Valley’s instructors and the hands-on learning that equipped her for a job she loves. “I chose Moraine Valley’s Fire Academy because I wanted a program that truly prepared me for what the real job was going to be like,” she said. “Moraine Valley did an exceptional job for me and my peers with the instructors, the classes we had to take and the discipline we had to learn every single day.”
For news media inquiries, contact Maura Vizza, Moraine Valley communications specialist and sports information coordinator, at (708) 974-5742 or Vizzam@morainevalley.edu.
