CWU Paramedicine Program Celebrates Golden Anniversary

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the paramedicine program at Central Washington University, a major milestone for the nationally accredited and internationally recognized program.

As we celebrate this achievement, we want to look back at the start of the program and the woman who helped the program become what it is today, Dorothy Purser.

Purser began teaching first aid at CWU in 1957, and turned what she described as “band-aid and splint work” into actual Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training and paramedic preparation.

“I want to be sure that people understand the commitment that Dorothy Purser made for that program,” said Carolyn Booth, former paramedicine program director. “There wouldn't be a program at Central if Dorothy had not taken on that responsibility. She took on the challenge from the EMS standpoint, training EMTs and eventually getting the federal funding to start the paramedic program with the support from the university.”

When Purser started the paramedic program, it was funded by a federal grant with the goal of training medics in rural, non-urban settings.

As part of creating the program, Purser took a leadership role of being the director of the program and creating relationships with fire departments, private ambulance services, and hospitals for the training, but it did not stop there.

Purser worked on classroom and field requirements that first-year students of the program must complete while also accomplishing her everyday teaching duties at school.

“The very earliest memory I have is just how hard she worked to take on that new role and help get the program up and going,” said Booth. “It was her tenacity, her commitment to want to be sure that people were as well taken care of as they possibly could be. She felt strongly that she needed to understand what the students were experiencing. She knew she wasn't going to get certified as a medic, but she wanted to know what the students were experiencing.”

Throughout the program’s history, CWU has produced countless professionals, many of whom have risen in rank and prominence.

John Sinclair, fire chief of Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue and emergency manager for the City of Ellensburg graduated from the CWU program in 1980 and received training from Professor Dorothy Purser.

“She [Purser] was a force of nature,” Sinclair recalled. “I was a volunteer with the fire district and the City of Ellensburg. I thought that I would take an EMT course. I found I had an affinity for emergency medical work, so Dorothy told me I needed to look at this as a career. I would end up falling in love with being a paramedic.”

Sinclair has spent several decades in fire departments as a paramedic—including delivering nine babies—and served as an instructor in the Central program.

“I loved every minute of it,” he stated unequivocally. “I put a lot of that back to Dorothy Purser. She taught you not just how to just be a clinician, but she taught you to understand and how to use critical thinking relative to overall [emergency management] systems.”

A 50-year celebration of the paramedicine program is being held on May 12, as part of the CWU Health Sciences Showcase. The celebration will take place from 4:00-5:00 p.m. and feature refreshments and remarks on the program's impact.

All are welcome to join, and we hope to see you there to help celebrate this incredible program and the outstanding people who have been monumental in getting the program here.