Paramedic Nicholas Celebrates 20 Years of the FDNY High School

Captain Vernon A. Richard High School for Fire and Life Safety first opened its doors 20 years ago. To celebrate two decades of excellence, we are highlighting some of the alumni who followed their dreams and joined the FDNY.

FDNY Paramedic Nicholas Waldrop is assigned to Station 4 on the Lower East Side. A 2009 graduate of the high school, he attributes much of his success to his alma mater,  where he says things started clicking for him during EMT classes senior year.

“At the high school, I had my hiccups. I had to get my act together because I was not on the graduating list because I had to make up credits,” said Waldrop. “But everything started to come full circle with the EMT program. I started falling in love with learning the human body, learning about anatomy, and I started falling in love with becoming an EMT.”

He graduated from the high school with his EMT certification and entered the EMS Academy with several other high school graduates about two months later. He had been an EMT for about 13 years before promoting to Paramedic in 2022. During his Paramedic class, he and his fellow EMTs were sent back into the field twice to help out with COVID-19 surges.

Waldrop also serves as a drill instructor for the FDNY Youth Program, his way of paying it forward. “The high school program teaches us to learn how to save people’s lives and starts a career right away because a lot of us don’t know what we want to do,” said Waldrop. “It’s a great feeling giving back because it’s where I came from.”

Click here to learn more about Captain Vernon A. Richard High School and other FDNY Youth Programs.