In the late 1970s, the Richmond Metro EMS system was largely made up of a collection of independent volunteer rescue squads. Although there was training up to the "cardiac technical" level, the was no paramedic training program available in the area.
This chanced when Dr. Kimball Maull, a trauma surgeon and the Director of EMS for the (then) Medical College of Virginia Hospital Emergency Rooms. According to his own account1, Dr. Maull secured a meeting with the VA Senate appropriations committee chairman. During the meeting, Dr. Maull told the shocked Senator that if anyone "dropped dead on the floor of the Senate, no paramedics would come to their aid". The senator asked what Dr. Maull needed to help change that. Dr Maull said he needed seed money to start the program. Soon thereafter, he was given $92,000 by the General Assembly to start paramedic education at MCV.
Dr. Maull's paramedic training quickly proved effective. In 1982, Senator Fredrick Gray from the Virginia General Assembly was severely injured in a traffic crash in Chesterfield County. The local volunteer rescue squad responded to the call. Suspecting that he had sustained a significant cervical spine injury, the paramedic crew carefully packaged the Senator and took him to MCV. While the Senator had a good outcome, he had sustained an unstable spine fracture that could have left him paralyzed with improper pre-hospital care. The General Assembly invited Dr. Maull to come before them to be honored for the care he provided to one of their own. Dr. Maull praised the efforts of the EMS providers who began his care.
Class of 1981
Cohort #1
From those humble beginnings, the Center began training about 20-24 paramedics per year. Today the CTCCE is a comprehensive EMS, trauma, critical care, and resuscitation education center providing healthcare providers from VCUH, the region, the US, and around the world. In 2019 more than 5,000 providers received education through CTCCE.
References
1. The Founding of EASt with Dr. Kimball Maull - EAST Storycase 01. 10 FEB 2019. https://www.east.org/education-career-development/online-education/storycasts/details/1174/the-founding-of-east-with-dr-kimball-maull