For Immediate Release

Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Two Topsfield Firefighters Receive Paramedic Certification

TOPSFIELD – Chief Ronald Giovannacci is pleased to announce that firefighters Thomas Ash and Brittany Taylor received their paramedic credentials last month.

Firefighters Ash and Taylor became certified as paramedics for the Topsfield Fire Department on July 13. They will now work under the direction of Dr. Steven Krendel and Beverly Hospital to provide medical assistance to those in need.

“The successful achievement of paramedic level certification is no small feat,” Chief Giovannacci said. “The addition of the two paramedics enhances the fire department’s ability to efficiently and effectively deliver high quality, pre-hospital care to the residents and visitors of Topsfield.”

Both firefighters attended Pro EMS Center for Medics in Cambridge, an 11-month program that included classroom lectures and 20 weeks of hospital and field rotations. To earn their certification, Firefighters Ash and Taylor had to pass a written and practical national certification exam.

Firefighter Ash has been a member of the Topsfield Fire Department since 2010, first as a call firefighter and then as a full-time firefighter. As a Boxford resident, he was previously a member of the Boxford Fire Department.

“I wanted to do more to help people,” Firefighter Ash said for his reasoning behind obtaining his paramedic credentials. “That’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Firefighter Taylor graduated from Masconomet Regional High School and has been a call firefighter with Topsfield Fire since 2013. Through her work as an EMT, she saw that she could deliver a higher level of care to her patients as a paramedic.

“I love being an EMT,” Firefighter Taylor said. “But I wanted to deliver better care to the patients that I treated.”

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