When Seconds Matter, Training Makes the Difference: Health First Hosts Multi-Agency Skills Fair for First Responders

400 emergency medical personnel gathered at the Health First Connections and Training Center

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — When the unimaginable happens — a driver trapped in a mangled car, a patient in cardiac arrest, or a mother in sudden distress during delivery — every second counts.

Over three days, nearly 400 emergency medical personnel from across the Space Coast gathered at the Health First Connections and Training Center to sharpen the skills they hope never to use but must be ready to deliver in an instant.

Dr. Larissa Dudley, MD, is the EMS Medical Director for Health First’s First Flight. Through EMS Medical Direction LLC, she extends that role to several Brevard municipalities, ensuring responders countywide train to the same high standards.

This year’s EMS Skills Fair featured advanced and basic life support stations and a specialized obstetrics emergency station. Paramedics, EMTs and flight crews rotated through immersive scenarios designed to replicate the rare but riskiest emergencies they may encounter.

Rather than rely on a single trainer, Dudley recruited instructors from within the agencies themselves. Experienced personnel from fire and EMS departments led colleagues from other municipalities, reinforcing consistency and strengthening cross-agency bonds.

“The culture of the fire departments fosters pride and everyone wants to do the best they can,” Dudley said. “That pride shows when these crews come together and consistently deliver excellent results.”

Participants rotated through four Advanced Life Support (ALS) stations, four Basic Life Support (BLS) stations and a combined obstetrics emergency station. Each focused on low-frequency, high-risk procedures that demand precision and confidence.

“We want every provider to walk away with confidence, so that if they ever have to perform them, they’re prepared,” Dudley explained.

The EMS Skills Fair emphasized collaboration as much as technical training. Providers from different municipalities worked shoulder to shoulder, sharing techniques, approaches and problem-solving strategies. That spirit of teamwork ensures consistency in patient care across the region and builds trust among agencies that often depend on each other in emergencies.

For Nadyra Ingram, EMS Account Executive for Health First, the value of that collaboration is clear.

“Training like this makes a difference when it’s a critical patient and the crews see a familiar face in the hospital setting,” she said. “It’s about collaboration, education and better patient handoff.”

Dudley echoed that it takes many hands to make the fair possible.

“I can’t thank Health First enough for giving us this space and allowing all of the municipalities I am responsible for to come together to train for these incredibly important scenarios,” she said.

“Especially Rob Spivey, Program Manager for Health First’s First Flight, for always helping to organize and the First Flight team for their instruction and their expertise with these skills. Health First not only provided us with the room and resources, they embraced the vision of bringing municipalities together. That support ensures our community benefits, and we empower the best-trained personnel.”

Emergency services are often invisible until disaster strikes. Residents may not think about the chain of care that is activated when they dial 911 — the first firefighter on scene, the paramedic managing airways, the flight crew transporting a patient and the emergency department team waiting at the door.

This Municipal EMS Skills Fair pulls back the curtain on the preparation that underpins those responses.

“This partnership directly impacts patient outcomes,” Ingram said. “It reassures the community that no matter which uniform shows up at their door, they are getting the highest level of care.”

By the end of the three-day event, nearly 400 participants had moved through every station, repeating procedures until the motions felt instinctive. They left with sharper skills, stronger connections, and greater confidence in their ability to respond when lives are on the line.

As Brevard County continues to grow and emergencies become more complex, the need for well-prepared responders will only increase. Through joint training supported by Health First and local municipalities, EMS providers are building the teamwork and expertise that make all the difference when seconds matter.

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