Owensboro officials took steps Tuesday to strengthen the regional pipeline of emergency medical technicians by approving a collaborative training agreement.
During its meeting, the Owensboro City Commission approved Municipal Order 14-2026, authorizing the mayor to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Owensboro Community and Technical College, Daviess County Fiscal Court, the City of Henderson, and the City of Madisonville to collaboratively offer coursework for an accelerated Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certificate.
The agreement brought together multiple fire departments, including the Owensboro, Daviess County, Henderson, and Madisonville, to coordinate training opportunities for their personnel through the college.
City officials said the partnership is intended to better meet the growing demand for EMTs across the region by making training more accessible and efficient.
City Manager Nate Pagan said the collaboration allows agencies to combine smaller groups of employees into a single, more efficient training cohort.
“Each department may only have a few people at a time who need EMT certification,” Pagan said. “By working together, we can pool those individuals into one cohort, coordinate the training more effectively, and make better use of everyone’s resources.”
Under the agreement, the participating agencies established terms and conditions for coordinating coursework through the accelerated EMT certificate program, helping streamline training while addressing workforce needs in emergency medical services.
Officials said the partnership formalizes a regional approach to EMT training and expands opportunities for first responders to obtain certification.
