How a Centennial College Paramedic Graduate Built an Award-Winning First Aid Training Company

From paramedic student to first aid company founder, David Goodman shares his story.

This article is edited from the original written for Centennial College by Anthony Geremia.

For David Goodman, a career in healthcare and emergency medicine was always the goal. When that wasn’t enough, he built his own company from the ground up.

A graduate of the Centennial College Paramedic program, Goodman is now the CEO of Heaven Can Wait First Aid, a nationally recognized, award-winning first aid and CPR training company. His path from student to entrepreneur shows how hands-on training and real-world pressure can open doors beyond the ambulance.

Choosing paramedic training

“I always wanted to become a physician, and I took the courses I needed to write the MCAT,” Goodman says. But as his undergraduate studies progressed, he started to reassess.

“I was at a campus event speaking to someone who came back for a reunion,” he says. “He went to Centennial College for paramedicine, and said the program is awesome.” That conversation changed everything.

“I loved emergency medicine, because you can make an impact quickly, and you can see the results,” Goodman says. “So I applied, and that’s what got me into Centennial from 2002 to 2004.”

What the program taught him

Goodman describes his time in the program as rewarding, but also intense.

“I loved it, though it was really stressful,” he says. “I have very vivid and crystal memories of the time. I remember the instructors, they prepared us more than we needed. There's a lot of hands-on paramedic training, and those instructors were always there to help out.”

“In the third semester, you have to do 600 hours in the ambulance with a preceptor,” Goodman explains. “They're field training officer, paramedics train students. You follow their shifts while you're in school, completing labs. That means you're doing nights, days, it's very stressful and intense, you're sleep deprived.”

“It was competitive,” Goodman says. “We started with maybe 190 students, and at the end, 20 of us graduated. Those 20 actually got hired by services even before we wrote the provincial exam, because we were highly skilled, and Centennial was highly touted.”

Building something new

Goodman began his career with Toronto EMS, but an injury changed his path.

“I worked for Toronto EMS for a while, but then, I suffered a very bad back injury,” he says. “So, I was on modified duties for a long time. During that time, I started working part-time at a paramedic college in Burlington. I was the lead instructor teaching lab classes.”

“While I was a paramedic, I was teaching for another first aid company,” he says. “When I got injured, I knew deep down that back injury was significant, and I wouldn't have been able, even after all the rehab, to go back on the road with Toronto EMS.” Instead, he used his training to create another path.

“I had the skills from Centennial College, plus the medical skills I learned on the road, to be able to start a company,” Goodman says.

“My company is called Heaven Can Wait First Aid,” Goodman explains. “I started it back in 2004. We're not Red Cross, we're not associated with the big ones. We're a fully autonomous first aid training company.”

Advice for future students

Looking back, Goodman says Centennial helped him develop leadership, problem-solving, and autonomy.

“This is something you can't fast track,” he says. “You need to take time and learn and integrate the skills, and practice a ton. That's another reason why I went to Centennial. Their graduates are very successful. When people want to apply to paramedic services, when they see Centennial, they know they're top-notch grads.”

“You must take it seriously,” he says. “You're going to be dealing with people's lives. You need to pick a group of individuals that are going to be successful that you train with. You will be set up properly if you graduate through Centennial.”

From the ambulance to his own business, David Goodman’s story shows how the right training, combined with persistence and adaptability, can lead to careers in paramedicine, healthcare, and entrepreneurship.