Eighteen young adults graduated from San Diego County Fire's first North County EMS Corps cohort at Palomar College, the county announced Friday, Sept. 25.

The milestone brings the state-funded EMT training program to North County for the first time. Palomar College, based in San Marcos, serves communities across the region including Carlsbad. Two earlier cohorts trained at Southwestern College in South County, graduating in February and June.

The 20-week program combines classroom instruction, emergency scenarios and hands-on training. Participants earn up to 12 college credits at Palomar College and log more than 400 hours of EMS training. Each student also completes 20 hours of field time riding with ambulance agency partners, according to a separate County News Center report on the cohort's training.

During the program, North County students ran a real-time emergency drill with the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District.

"Behind every graduate in this room is an ecosystem of wraparound support made up of case managers, instructors, and mentors who simply refused to let them fail," Tareq Haidari, the program coordinator for San Diego County Fire's EMS Corps, said at the graduation.

The program, backed by a grant from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and Public Works Alliance, pays participants $1,500 a month while they train. San Diego Workforce Partnership invested in the North County expansion. Beyond the stipend, enrollees receive mentorship, career coaching, financial literacy guidance and help with childcare and housing.

The program focuses on Californians ages 18 to 26 who face barriers to entering the EMS field, including those involved in the foster care or juvenile justice systems. Graduates who pass the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) exam can earn a California EMT Card, authorizing them to work anywhere in the state. The program covers all exam and certification costs.

The pipeline is already producing results. Christopher Vega, 21, became the first San Diego EMS Corps graduate to enter the Southwestern College Fire Academy, starting in January, according to a County News Center article on the program's public safety pipeline. He has since graduated. Four more EMS Corps graduates were accepted into the August Fire Academy.

The EMS Corps began in Alameda County before expanding statewide, reaching San Diego County in July 2025. Applications for the next cohort are closed but expected to reopen. Residents can check sandiegoemscorps.org for updates.