BVSD Staff Profile: Rick Dirr, Apex Emergency Medical Services Instructor

Meet Rick Dirr, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) instructor at Apex, formerly Boulder TEC, BVSD’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center with 35 years of public safety service (including serving as a fire chief for 22 years, triage paramedic at a local hospital and a firefighter/paramedic during clean-up at Rocky Flats). He’s teaching the next generations advanced skills in the emergency medical field, what makes a person employable, and how to bounce back from stressful situations through emotional resilience.

Finding a passion for service
Dirr’s background is anything but traditional for a high school instructor. He took his first emergency medical technician (EMT) class as part of his training as a volunteer safety chairperson for a local caving and climbing group (think hobbyists who spend time spelunking, climbing cliff faces, exploring natural caves) with the National Speleological Society. 

He trained for high-angle rope rescues and other emergencies, “out of self-preservation” or maybe to gain some adventure from his career in computers at the time.

EMS was always a passion and a draw for Dirr. Shortly after he moved to Colorado in 1990, he enrolled in an EMT program, shortly followed by paramedic school and began serving as a volunteer fire fighter in Nederland. Along the way, he gained accreditations and experience as a surface ice and swift water rescuer, rope and backcountry rescue and like many mountain departments demand, experience in wildfire fighting.

In ‘98-99’ Dirr worked at the Rocky Flats site, the former nuclear weapons plant northwest of Denver that produced plutonium pits for nuclear warheads from the 1950s to 1992. The site experienced significant environmental contamination, and a subsequent expensive cleanup. Today, the former plant site has been converted into the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, a public area for recreation like hiking and biking.

“We were part of the site clean-up efforts and in that job I served in roles as paramedic and rescue for staff, hazmat, and nuclear materials handling,” said Dirr. “Typically we had 14 people on shift, the minimum response for those kinds of incidents.”

Dirr then settled in to culminate all of that experience as a mountain fire chief for the following 22 years. 

A transition to teaching
“Ironically, early in my career in emergency services in ‘95, I was asked to fill in for an EMS instructor as part of the Longmont Hospital EMT program,” said Dirr. “It turns out that the same instructor is now the head of the EMS program at Front Range Community College” (where some of Dirr’s Apex students go to complete their education). They are still connected today.

When his time as a fire chief was concluding Dirr said, “after all of that, physically I’m pretty broken — that kind of work will do a number on you, so it was time to look for a transition.”

Happenstance would have it that the need for an EMS instructor opened again at Apex (Boulder TEC at the time) in 2023 and Dirr fit the bill.

“When I took my first EMT class in 1986, I thought this should be a required high school curriculum,” said Dirr. 

And while not required, he certainly has lots of interest in the program from high school students. His EMS course is a popular one with students enrolling from across BVSD high schools including Peak to Peak, New Vista, Broomfield and Boulder High and more. 

However even with a job in the classroom he can’t abandon his service-minded adventurous side. “I still make some time to volunteer with a mountain fire department as a firefighter, performing search and rescue and as a medic,” he shared. “That’s a calling that’s hard to shake after everything I’ve seen and experienced.”

About Dirr’s course
In the EMS course at Apex, students can earn certifications and college credits as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) and Wilderness First Responder (WFR), and yes, they are all different.

On average students in the EMS courses earn 12 college credits (+/- .5) as it is co-enrolled at Front Range Community College, and an EMT or EMR certification.  EMR students also earn BVSD credits in language arts and public speaking as the program addresses those areas of emergency service. Part of the EMR program includes credits for integrated Intro to Medical Terminology and Law and Ethics for Healthcare Professionals. 

“These courses are way more rigorous than people give them credit for,” says Dirr. He also teaches the curriculum for Front Range students over the summer when needed.

They train for advanced medical situations both in a scenario room with medical dummies, stretchers and other life-saving medical equipment and out in the elements outside of the classroom. 

Some of the topics in the course syllabus include: lifting and moving patients, shock and rescue techniques, respiratory, cardiovascular and diabetic treatment, hazmat and active shooter scenarios burns, medical documentation and much more.

Dirr also ensures that his students are aware of the emotional challenges of responding to and recovering from emergencies, especially those that don’t go as planned.

“It’s my job also to set them up emotionally for what they will encounter,” he says. “I escort students through that by modeling my own experiences, teaching the stages of grief, and having real discussions about the toll those situations can take. It’s part of the job, but definitely the hardest part.”

Some of Dirr’s students take the course to just explore emergency response or medicine as a potential career and some as part of a planned career in health care, nursing, emergency medicine or fire/wildfire response and law enforcement. He recently lent fire department equipment to one of his students to complete their wildfireland training post-graduation, and has students currently serving on the Arapahoe Rescue Patrol.

“These types of CTE courses expand a student’s world and the things they’ll consider doing in their life,” he shares. “We make sure they feel supported in everything they do here. It can be as simple as needing to crawl through a ditch for a simulated rescue and they’re terrified of bugs,” he laughs. “We help them work through it.”

Preparing students for life after high school
As the parent of a recent BVSD graduate and current high schooler, he knows this age group and the big questions they face as the graduation date nears.

“I know their challenges, my daughter was a TEC student just two years ago,” said Dirr. “At this stage many are looking for meaning and direction in their lives and I understand that.”

“I have students that come here that don’t think they're college capable, and then they look into fire academy or nursing school. I’m pretty proud of getting these students to look into pursuing post-secondary education.”

Dirr has experienced that many high school students have well-developed work ethics and some that need help getting there, but he says this is the pivotal year—between junior and senior —to prepare them for the workforce and develop the soft skills and accountability required.

“If a student’s goal in these courses is just career exploration and they decide a career in emergency medicine isn’t for them then great, we’ve done our job exposing you to that and you’re gonna leave with soft skills, resilience and so much more than just medicine that you got to learn.”

But for those that continue in the field Dirr says, “Students that pursue a career in EMS somehow all show that initial interest and drive—they have a calling to serve others—and there is no greater honor than serving. You’ll be a good human, able to care for your family and friends, and have skills that set you apart from the rest.”