Tijuana’s municipal fire department graduated 68 new emergency responders on April 29, including the first certified Emergency Medical Technician class in the department’s history. The ceremony marked a milestone for a corps that has historically relied on informal, on-the-job training.
The graduating class included 36 firefighters, 12 lifeguards, and 20 EMTs (known in Mexico as Técnicos en Urgencias Médicas, or TUM). Municipal public safety secretary José Alejandro Avilés Amezcua led the ceremony and called ongoing professional training and certification essential to the corps’ mission.
First Certified EMT Class in Department History
Fire Director Rafael Carrillo Venegas said the graduation marks a deliberate shift from informal training to structured, certified coursework. The 20-member EMT class is the department’s first dedicated prehospital care cohort, a change that expands the city’s capacity for medical emergencies beyond traditional fire suppression and rescue.
Tijuana handles a high volume of emergency calls across a sprawling metropolitan area of roughly two million people. Before this program, firefighters often learned emergency medical skills through experience rather than formal certification. The new EMT graduates are trained specifically in prehospital assessment, stabilization, and patient transport.
Part of a Broader Investment in Emergency Services
The graduation comes weeks after the city announced an investment of more than 53 million pesos (approximately $2.65 million USD) in new equipment for the fire department. That April 7 announcement, also led by Avilés Amezcua, included new apparatus and gear aimed at modernizing a fleet that still relies partly on donated trucks from San Diego Fire-Rescue.
Avilés Amezcua has described firefighters as “a key piece in the emergency response system” and the “first to arrive, the first to act, and the first to save lives.” The back-to-back investments in equipment and personnel represent the most significant upgrade to Tijuana’s fire service in recent memory.
The 12 new lifeguards will bolster beach safety operations along Tijuana’s coastline, which stretches from Playas de Tijuana south toward Rosarito. The area sees heavy use year-round from both residents and visitors.
Institutional Modernization Takes Shape
Carrillo Venegas, who has led the department through several rounds of modernization, has long advocated for certified training standards. Tijuana’s fire department has historically operated with fewer resources than comparable U.S. departments across the border, though cross-border cooperation with San Diego Fire-Rescue has included shared training and donated equipment.
The 68 new graduates will be deployed across Tijuana’s fire stations and beach posts. No timeline was given for a second EMT training class, but officials framed the program as ongoing rather than a one-time effort.
The graduation was first reported by Punto Norte.