Wayland Fire Congratulates New Graduates, Grows Paramedic Staff

The Wayland Fire Department is congratulating two of its own this week after a couple of graduations from area firefighter and paramedic programs.

Mike Boyes first worked with the Wayland Fire Department as a call firefighter. He was then hired as a firefighter/paramedic and has now completed his firefighter training through the recruit class at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy in Stow. According to a press release, Boyes graduated from the 12-week comprehensive program on Sept. 28; his class included 63 men and three women representing 37 fire departments from across the state.

Additionally, Alexiss Wheeler this week became Wayland's first already-employed firefighter to train for and earn certification as a Massachusetts Emergency Medical Technician (Advanced Level), qualifying her to serve as a firefighter/paramedic.

Wheeler graduated from the paramedic course at Massachusetts Bay Community College and was "pinned" during a ceremony on Oct. 1 at MBCC. She also earned the college's "Leadership Award."

With Wheeler's certification, Wayland now employs four full-time paramedics and is making strides toward the goal of fully staffing Advanced Life Support (ALS) services for all shifts.

Wayland Fire Chief Vincent Smith said two other current firefighters, Todd Winner and Dan Spurling, are in the midst of their paramedic training.

“Some time during Fiscal Year 2014 – probably toward the end – we may have the initial goal of 10 [paramedics],” Smith said, referring to the goals for ALS service outlined by his predecessor, Bob Loomer. "I feel as though we’re meeting the objectives that we wanted to accomplish. We’re well on the way to that."