Stratford Emergency Medical Services says about 75% of its staff is now certified to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut.

The Stratford EMS was approved to administer the vaccine a few weeks ago.

The staff says they used oranges to practice administering shots since they are state-approved.

"It does feel like you're administering into a human, just the pressure and everything like that," EMS Operations Supervisor Eileen Brophy, says. "With all that we've been going through with this pandemic, our call volume has gone up substantially."

The state gave paramedics and EMTs the green light to vaccinate a few weeks ago, and Stratford EMS hit the ground running.

Brophy says the training consists of both online and in-person components and takes about three hours.

EMS officials also have a debriefing with the town's health department staff ahead of the clinics they're assigned to.

Director of Health Andrea Boissevain says they're lucky to now have the support of Stratford EMS.

"On Friday, they vaccinated, we did probably over 400 people, and they were right there by our side," Boissevain says.

Stratford EMS says they are opening their training program to other paramedics and EMTs in the area.