In 1995, The Department of Emergency Medicine received funding to establish a hospital-based paramedic education program. To meet this educational need, two full-time nurse-paramedic instructors were hired to serve as faculty. Adjunct faculty and clinical preceptors were individually selected from a group of paramedical, flight service and emergency nurses from the Emergency Department, respectively. At that time, the paramedic course was a 15-month certificate program which followed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-National Standard Curricula for Paramedics curriculum. A partnership between Carolinas Medical Center, Mecklenburg EMS Agency (Medic), and Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) was established to deliver this comprehensive program.

After the partnership was established with Medic, CPCC and The Department of Emergency Medicine ,The Center for Prehospital Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center came into existence under the guidance of Tom Blackwell, MD. Tom is medical director of the Center for Prehospital Medicine and the Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services Agency (Medic). He received his training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and became a faculty member at CMC in July 1992. Tom has had an interest in prehospital care for many years and has been formally involved with EMS quality assurance, training, protocol development, and research.

The Center serves as a regional medical oversight and training facility for prehospital educational courses, including a paramedic training program. Medical direction and oversight is provided to the Mecklenburg EMS Agency and all affiliated first responder agencies (Charlotte Fire Department and volunteer fire and rescue organizations in Mecklenburg County); MedCenter Air Flight Service; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Lake Patrol, SWAT Team, and Aviation Unit; Charlotte FBI SWAT Team, Charlotte Office of the U.S. Secret Service, and Paramount's Carowinds Theme Park. Medical Direction is also provided for the Carolinas Medical Center Special Events Medical Service which includes Bank of America Stadium, Lowe's Motor Speedway, the Charlotte Coliseum, and the Charlotte Convention Center. All prehospital consulting activities, disaster planning, and terrorism preparedness activities are provided by Center personnel.

Prehospital care is an integral part of emergency medicine and is strongly supported by Carolinas Medical Center and the Department of Emergency Medicine. Mecklenburg EMS Agency (Medic) is the exclusive provider for all ambulance services (emergency and non emergency response and transport) in Mecklenburg County. Currently, Medic is used for clinical internships for the Paramedic students, as well as many departments with Carolinas HealthCare System. Because of the strong background and commitment of the partners that helped to form this program in 1995, the Center for Prehospital Medicine, in conjunction with the Carolinas College of Health Sciences, plans to offer the first Associate Degree EMS program in Mecklenburg County. While many programs exist that offer Associate Degrees in EMS, this will be the first of it's kind in North Carolina due to the direct affiliation with the Carolinas HealthCare System, The Department of Emergency Medicine and the Carolinas College of Health Sciences.