Longtime EMT instructor preps MTSU students with skills to handle pressure-packed career

Throughout the 40 years of its existence, the MTSU EMT program has certified more than 1,000 emergency medical technicians, many of whom are still working in the industry today.

Randy White leads the course and has done so since 1982. He started out working with the ambulance service in 1980 when he was 20 years old and says after that experience he never wanted to do anything else.

“I jumped in the ambulance for a ‘ride-along,’ and I remember the very first call,” said White, now 61. “There was a wreck on Warrior Drive in south Murfreesboro. We did not have to transport anyone, but just being out there and being able to help was tremendous to me.”

He’s been an instructor since then, partnering with Dwight Stone to lead the basic EMT training course as well as an advanced EMT course through University College’s Professional Development Program. The pair started teaching one class a year and certifying about 20 students but now they lead two basic EMT classes and certify about 35.

White says he enjoys leading the classes today as much as he did when he started.

“Sometimes I get carried away because I want to teach them everything in one class,” he said jokingly. “I can be tough on the students sometimes, but if they can get by me they can get by day-to-day.”

He said his goal is to graduate qualified EMTs or not graduate anyone at all.

“We believe a person is qualified when we trust them to work on our parents, our spouses, and our children.”