Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Workforce Education, Training, and Youth Development Committee convened on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 1:30 PM to consider three ordinances: a partnership with Premier EMS Training Academy to build a paramedic training pipeline, a $100,000 contract with Ohio City Incorporated for youth recreation programming, and an $80,000 grant from Cleveland Guardians Charities for baseball and softball. All three ordinances were approved, with an amendment added to the grant ordinance requiring notification of cooperative purchases.
Ordinance 745-2026 – Partnership with Premier EMS Training Academy
Ordinance 748-2026 – Contract with Ohio City Incorporated (Near West Recreation Program)
Ordinance 911-2026 – Grant from Cleveland Guardians Charities for Baseball/Softball Program
Good afternoon, everybody. And if you in public today is Tuesday, October thirteenth. At one thirty PM, we would like to call the workforce education, training, and youth development committee to order. Madam Clerk, can you call a role? Here. Wonderful. How about you? Could you introduce yourself for the viewing public as well as my colleagues? Commissioner Orlando Wheeler, Cleveland DMS. All right, with this ordinance number 745, can you speak to this ordinance and what is the actually happening around this changes? So this change would give us the ability to partner with Premier EMS Training Academy. They'll be able to ride with us. We'd be able to train with them in hopes of possibly starting uh in-house paramedic program for our EMTs and to further train uh new employees. So this is an opportunity to do some in-the-house training for new employees around EMS? That's correct. And to have uh the opportunity for their students at Premier to ride and train with Cleveland EMS. All right, and I believe we heard this um in safety committee earlier earlier this year in August, um, which is something that was important. Is there anything that the committee need to know other than what you have outlined on how this give an opportunity to start the educational institution, nonprofit organizations, career and vocational center that could be in-house uh within the city of Cleveland? Uh no. Any questions from the committee? Councilwoman Nikki Hutzer. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um through the chair to the commissioner. Um if this were not to be passed, what effect would this have on uh division EMS? Uh through the chair to councilwoman Hudson. Uh the impact would be uh out of pocket expense initially for some of our EMTs, uh, but they'll be reimbursed through the ordinance that was passed last year for up to 5,000. But this would take most of the out-of-pocket expense away from the employee and put the honest on a division. Okay, and um through the chair, are some of these individuals participating in this program right now, like they're already doing ride-alongs? Uh through the chair to the councilwoman, no, no one's doing any ride-alongs at this time because we don't have the agreement in place. Okay, okay, I understand. But we do have agreements with other institutions such as Tri-C and with various other um outside entities, Department of Uh Justice, well, Department of War. Um, and uh FBI. So we do have agreements with other entities to ride with the city of Cleveland EMS. And then um, through the chair, this ordinance is is needed, this update in order to expand the pool of candidates for for EMS? Through the chair to the councilwoman, it would not only expand the pool of candidates, but it would give um exposure to these individuals within the training facility to ride with EMS and get maybe a glimpse of what we have to offer for possible future employment and other opportunities. Okay, thank you. And so the the point is to make sure that EMS, um, Cleveland EMS has you know uh a pipeline um into employment. Through the chair to the councilwoman, uh not only will it give us a pipeline possibly, but it also uh highlights the experience and everything that Cleveland EMS brings to the table for the community. Okay, thank you. And then through the chair, can you just mention a few of the things that makes Cleveland EMS different than other cities EMS that the individuals to do the right along might be exposed to? Through the chair to councilwoman um Cleveland EMS, we provide whole blood, which we started last year, and we have done over a hundred transfusions for trauma-related uh patients with an increase in survivability by 71%, which is well above what most of the region does. And we also have uh ventilators, uh automated ventilators which provide um respiratory support for those individuals in respiratory distress or cardiac arrest, so on and so forth. And Cleveland DMS, we also provide some of the best training in the region when it comes to CPR stop the bleed, first aid, AED training. So this gives these individuals to see what Cleveland DMS is made of and to give them some pride in wanting to come and work for Cleveland DMS. Okay. That's all. Thank you, Commissioner.