GREENSBORO – The Harnett County EMS team of Morgan Langdon and Jonathan Murphy earned the top spot at the 32nd annual Paramedic Competition held last week in Greensboro, earning the state title for the first time.
Langdon and Murphy were among the top six teams from across the state in this year’s competition at the annual North Carolina EMS Expo — an educational conference for paramedics, EMTs and county emergency services directors to hone their skills with presentations from faculty from across the state and the U.S.
The Harnett County team out-performed five other regional champion teams who earned their spots following competitions in March in Brunswick, Catawba, Cumberland, Johnston and Surry counties. These teams included Cape Fear Valley LifeLINK Air, Harnett County EMS, Mecklenburg EMS (two teams) and Surry County Emergency Services.
All six duos were held in sequestration before emerging to face the same, true-to-life mock emergency. This year’s scenario involved a car crash with multiple occupants injured in the vehicle, including one experiencing an overdose, and another pedestrian who was struck by the car impacting a downtown urban area.
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.
“These paramedic teams practice all year to prepare for this event,” Mitchell said. “They never know what they’re going to face in this competition just like their day-to-day calls. Their extensive training results in improved quality of care for all North Carolina residents and visitors who may suffer from illness or injury in an emergency situation.”
During the competition, each team has 12 minutes to assess, treat and stabilize the scenario’s victims. They must move quickly while using their training, experience and education to provide care to the victims. All teams are judged on the professionalism of their response, including in the categories of communications, patient rapport, attitude, organization and conduct.
The competition is watched by hundreds of their peers from bleachers set up inside the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center’s Guilford Ballroom, which had been transformed into an urban street setting where a crashed car had impacted a building after fleeing from the North Carolina Highway Patrol who also participated in the scenario.
The annual event serves as a training opportunity for the competing teams as well as the paramedics and emergency medical technicians who closely observe each group’s analysis and response to the scenario.
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.
