Growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin gave Alyssa Cahoon the skills to succeed.
Alyssa Cahoon, director of MATC’s Emergency Medical Services programs, prepares frontline workers to serve southeastern Wisconsin
Alyssa Cahoon has fought fires, responded to thousands of emergencies, treated patients and taught college courses. If that makes her a role model, she’s cool with that. “On the job, I always wanted to show I could do the work, and maybe that came from feeling like I had to show others that I could,” said Cahoon, the program director and instructional chair of MATC’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) programs. “I never want anyone thinking I couldn’t save them.” Cahoon’s gritty determination, professional success and educational accomplishments make her an ideal role model for women interested in protective services careers, said Janell Jones, associate dean of the college’s Community and Human Services Academic and Career Pathway, which includes EMS and other first-responder programs. “Alyssa can show young ladies the opportunities available in the profession,” Jones said. “By putting eyes on the women we employ, like Alyssa, we hope to welcome new students and recruit more women instructors.” Before she became an instructor, a firefighter, a paramedic and a role model, Cahoon wanted to be a game warden and work for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She grew up on a dairy farm in southeastern Wisconsin, milking cows, baling hay and fixing equipment. She headed off to college but returned after her father suffered a life-altering accident during her first year. He was in intensive care and rehabilitation for more than a year, which required her mother’s full attention.
That left her and her brother to run the farm. Her neighbors and others in her hometown pitched in to help, so, in gratitude for their care and compassion, she joined the local volunteer fire department. “Being raised on a farm set me up for success,” Cahoon said.“I knew all about hard work, mechanics, hydraulics and pneumatics. I had a solid skill set going into this, and I think that gave others confidence in me.” When she returned to college, Cahoon entered the fire science program at Fox Valley Technical College and earned an associate degree in 1999. She received a paramedic technician degree from Gateway Technical College in 2004. A few months later, at age 27, she joined the North Shore Fire Department in Milwaukee County as a firefighter/paramedic. “I found out that this had become my profession,” she said. She also continued her formal education, earning an associate degree in registered nursing, a bachelor’s degree in EMS administration, a master of public health degree in community health education, and in May 2024, a doctorate of education in leadership, innovation and continuous improvement from Concordia University Wisconsin.
In 2015, she was hired by MATC to elevate the college’s Paramedic program, which at the time had 11 students. She worked to accredit, expand and improve the program. Her role as program director has expanded to include the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and EMT Advanced programs. She is dual-credentialed as a fire instructor and assists the fire program administratively. This year, the Paramedic program has more than 100 students, and the EMT program has nearly 300 students annually, who are taught by 16 full-time and 87 part-time instructors, Cahoon said. “We’re the largest EMS program in the state and the top 2% in the nation by size,” she said. “We have a dedicated team of very well-educated and highly credentialed educators supporting our students in reaching their goals.” And there’s no better time to get into emergency response professions than right now, Cahoon said. Job openings are plentiful, and the social dynamics within the fire and EMS community are changing. As the previous generation retires, the door is opening wider to women and others who may have not been wholeheartedly welcomed in the past. She has only one question for them: Can you do the work? “We need people of all kinds to do this work. I believe in the value of diversity and everyone meeting the same performance standards. Safety is our top priority. The community needs to trust in its emergency responders in the same way our co-workers need to trust we have their back when it matters most.” Cahoon said. “When duty calls, duty calls. You need to do your job.”
Learn more about EMS at matc.edu.
MATC Spotlight
The college’s Emergency Medical Services program is the largest in the state and among the biggest in the nation, offering four associate degree and diploma programs.
Paramedic Technician: Paramedics provide the top level of advanced emergency and non emergency medical support, primarily in prehospital settings and emergency departments. This associate degree program is related to the EMT-Paramedic technical diploma program. Students in the latter can apply the 41 credits earned in their program toward the associate degree. The two related programs offer students flexibility and opportunities to gain the skills and knowledge to advance in their careers.
Emergency Medical Technician: EMTs work with other healthcare professionals to deliver critical, prehospital emergency medical care. This program also is designed to enhance existing skills of individuals working in the field.
Emergency Medical Technician– Advanced: This program builds upon the skills acquired in the EMT program. Students learn advanced patient assessment skills and technical skills such as IV access, fluid therapy and administration of dextrose and naloxone, the medicine in Narcan. Advanced emergency medical technicians perform emergency patient care, basic life support and limited advanced life support in the field, transporting injured and ill patients to hospital emergency rooms.
Emergency Medical Technician –Paramedic: EMT paramedics are integral members of a prehospital emergency care team, providing medical intervention to the ill or injured and continuing that care during transport to a medical facility.