Collegiate EMS

[nwpfdjr27 39]

All,

I am looking to everyone for hopefully some feedback, input, comments, complaints, etc. of ANY members who work with, or work in a college EMS agency (ambulance or first response). I currently am a member of my college EMS agency, a very small agency that operates out of a school in upstate NY and only provides first response EMS on the weekend. The reason I am looking for any feedback is due to the immense resistance and problems we have faced throughout my membership in the agency since my freshman year. Here is a quick overview of exactly what our agency does, just for information sake:

-Has been in service with a NYSDOH designation since 1996

-First response (only green lights were granted to us) with an SUV fly-car to calls 99% on campus, and very very rarely to the surrounding community.

-Approximately 40 members with only about 20 being very active, not all members are currently EMTs

-EMS service for all campus special events, but only in-service for Friday night, Saturday day, and Saturday night

Basically, the other officers and myself have become exhausted with frustration over so many issues, so I would love to just get some feedback on how any other agencies out there work with the campus community, in addition to any input outside agencies have had in terms of experience with college EMS. Thanks very much for your time and input.

Matt, aka nwpfdjr27

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I dont even know where to begin. My collegiate EMS agency (which I am not a member of any longer) is 24/7 ILS staffed ambulance responsible for the entire campus. Since Burlington, VT has a career fire department with 5 engines, 2 ladders and 2 ILS ambulances and 1 BC in service 24/7, we are second into the city of burlington on all EMS calls when BFD R-1 or R-2 is OOS or at the ED. There are approximately 25 members maximum in our squad that run the shifts with about 3-5 on duty at any given time. While it is a large commitment, this agency regularly turns out extremely high quality EMTs and EMT-Is. I left simply because I could not do 24 hours a week every week plus 250 vacation time hours annually, simply school is more important to me than collegiate EMS. UVM Rescue is supported with money from billing for transport, money from the school as well as alumni members running when students are unavailable. UVM runs about 1,500 calls/year but about half are fire alarms on campus or transporting patients from the medi-vac across the street to the ED. They have two ambulances that they alternate, a 2010 Osage on a E-450 and a 2008 PL Custom on a F-450.

In my opinion, you need to mandate training like they do up here. Before you start you need to be familiar with basic response protocol. Within 30 days one needs to demonstrate total knowledge of both rigs including operation of 90% of the equipment of board. Within 1 year ( or three EMT-B class cycles) you are expected to be EMT-B, during this time driver training occurs, since we are primary to campus, and secondary to South Burlington, Burlington, Winnoski and Shelburne this is a difficult process. By junior year you are expected to be EMT-I and by senior year you are also expected to be a crew chief. We also do not run driver and EMT-I only. Minimum there is a driver, crew chief and third.

St. Mike's college in Colchester actually has a combined collegiate Fire/EMS department running two alternating ILS ambulances and two class A pumpers and a hose truck.

It might be better to instead of having people staffing the flycar, you have people on call in campus so if they have time between classes they can provide care but dont have to be stuck on duty when they have classes AM and PM during the week day.

For the record, I joined a another nearby EMS agency that allowed me more flexibility in my shifts, while the call volume is lower, I am much more content in an agency that not only does not rely heavily on a small pool of members, have such demanding schedule and it allows more room for advancement and pays better too.

BTW, who provides the fire services and who transports any patients?

Edited April 15, 2011 by bvfdjc316

[PFDRes47cue 653]

I too was a member of a small ems agency at a small college in upstate NY. My time was brief due to dedicating my time to my two majors, one minor, and being a mutual aid member with the fire department in town.

The EMS agency on my campus is composed of Trainees and EMT's. They provide first response EMS 24/7 while school is in sessions. They also provide crews for all sports or physical activity fund raisers (ie: relay for life) on campus. There are set night crews, each of which has a Crew Chief EMT, another 1 or 2 EMT's, and a Trainee. The Crew Chief has acces to jump bags for his/her shift. The other members of the crew all sign out a different piece of equipment (splints, backboard, etc). There are various locations on campus where there are BLS jump bags and backboards stored for the agencies use.

This is just a response agency, there are no fly cars, ambulances, and no green lights are issued. People who have green lights from being active in other agencies are allowed to us them (I always did at least). Transports are done by the towns Rescue Squad which has ALS and BLS members. The campus agency does not bill, but the town agency does. All members trainees are given a pager but can sign out a portable for their duty night. All EMT's are given portables. All calls are responded to on foot or in a car if you have one.

The town agency is very welcoming of the school agency. They allow the school members to ride with them if they are in an EMT class. They will also let members ride to the hospital from calls on campus.

I do not remember exactly how it worked but I believe we had one meeting on the first Sunday of the month and then training two Sundays later.

I understand your frustrations with the membership but it is important to remember that collegiate EMS agencies get all different types of people to join. Not everyone will work. It is important to keep on having recruitment booths around campus. Eventually you will get some quality members to join.

I personally understand where some of your members resistance and lack of participation comes from. It seems to me that it is a big commitment in terms of meetings, training etc to just provide crews for standby"s and first response ems for 36 hours a week.

Edited April 15, 2011 by PFDRes47cue

[NJMedic 96]

Check out this website devoted to all things College/University EMS: http://www.ncemsf.org/resources/links/showlinks.ems?category=999

[JohnnyOV 2]

Check out this website devoted to all things College/University EMS: http://www.ncemsf.or...ms?category=999

Beat me too it. They were very helpful in assisting me and 2 other guys getting our collegiate ems program up and running. It took almost 3 years for us to finally start responding to calls on campus, but through perseverance and dedication, the school officials realized how important it was to have a first response agency on campus. Response times to have an EMT on location went from an average 8-15 minutes down to 3 or less for 911 calls regarding medical runs...

http://www.eraumed.com/

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Not sure what exactly you are looking for nor the problems/resistance you speak of in detail, but if you want to talk about it more PM me your email address.

[firemoose827 324]

During my time with the career EMS unit I worked in Upstate NY, I worked very closely with the local SUNY EMS response agency on campus, and I have to say, they were extremely dedicated, professional, caring, and always wanting to help in any way they could.

I have had numerous trips to campus for the infamous "Intoxicated Subject" calls at all hours of the night (Notice I didnt say day? ) and this group always responded, always had full sets of vitals every 15 minutes for us, always helped us carry them down with our equipment and always had someone ride with us to the local ER. Very helpful group.

They had a fly-car that was kept at the campus clinic, if there was a call someone went to get the car while the rest responded on foot to the building. It was a fairly big campus with numerous buildings all interconnected with sidewalks big enough to drive vehicles on, and they had the campus security officers too that were a branch of the state police. Very efficient system they had.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

During my time with the career EMS unit I worked in Upstate NY, I worked very closely with the local SUNY EMS response agency on campus, and I have to say, they were extremely dedicated, professional, caring, and always wanting to help in any way they could.

I have had numerous trips to campus for the infamous "Intoxicated Subject" calls at all hours of the night (Notice I didnt say day? ) and this group always responded, always had full sets of vitals every 15 minutes for us, always helped us carry them down with our equipment and always had someone ride with us to the local ER. Very helpful group.

They had a fly-car that was kept at the campus clinic, if there was a call someone went to get the car while the rest responded on foot to the building. It was a fairly big campus with numerous buildings all interconnected with sidewalks big enough to drive vehicles on, and they had the campus security officers too that were a branch of the state police. Very efficient system they had.

My SUNY school has the same efficient system. Minus the fly car. The members are very dedicated. Its a good thing. Even a drunk needs a friendly and dedicated person to care after them.

[firemoose827 324]

My SUNY school has the same efficient system. Minus the fly car. The members are very dedicated. Its a good thing. Even a drunk needs a friendly and dedicated person to care after them.

Yes but they could be more considerate!! I mean c'mon, 3am every thursday night? LOL

[nwpfdjr27 39]

Thanks all for the input and comments so far, I have done plenty of work on my own as well, but we keep getting stonewalled by administration, so it was more me just trying to get a general idea from those out there who worked with this to see how different systems were run. Bvfdjc316, all of the treatment and transport is provided by Schenectady FD (ALS first response) and Mohawk Ambulance Service. alsfirefighter, thanks for the offer, I will PM you with my address.

Edited April 15, 2011 by nwpfdjr27

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Yes but they could be more considerate!! I mean c'mon, 3am every thursday night? LOL

It is definitely ridiculous. The best is when you have 20 year old kids who are frequent fliers....I mean really? Man up and tolerate it or learn MODERATION!

[conman 40]

Im currently a member of the squad firemoose is talking about. we aren't a state agency so no lights lol thats ok. i do enjoy running with the squad but i have some conflicts with the officers. We run EMTs and trainiees and a fly car. As for transporting paitents, the town rescue squad is both ALS and BLS and there is an ALS commerical company right in town. Anyone can join and we provide basic training like CPR/AED and getting to know where the gear is in the bag. If we can do it we try to get students who are interested into an EMT class. We provide service from 6pm to 7am M-F and24 hr coverage on the weekend. Members meet the crew chiefs before we start our shift to get our portables and check over a gear.

[ex-commish 490]

To any of you that have been associated with College Ems Squads...my son is presently a Freshman at our local community college and will transfer to a 4 year school in Sept of 2012. He is contemplating on taking the emt course. He is also a college baseball player and time is usually not friendly during the season. Are the time requirements very stringent? Also do any of the schools wether it be SUNY or private offer any tuition discounts for services rendered. Any response would be appreciated.

[EmtFire42 0]

I have very few complaints of the collegiate EMS organization I work for. I am a driver/EMT, and the school has been VERY good to us. We run 2 rigs alternating, and do not charge for our services. We are a BLS agency 24/7 when dorms are open. Currently, we have close to 100 members in the organization if I remember correctly. We receive ALS from two different sources based on the call location, and we have just purchased a fly car for our Lieutenants on Duty because of an increase in calls of a more serious nature, often requiring them to respond to scene or the hospital.

Like many other agency's mentioned, we are completely student run, and we have a normal staffing of a 4 person crew (Driver, Crew Chief, and 2 attendants who may or may not be EMT's), but we will sometimes run a smaller crew (Drive and Crew Chief only, mainly on second response calls). Even if someone is an EMT, they have to go through a semester long training with the organization before they are even voted in and are allowed to ride.

If you are looking to increase the visibility of your organization on campus, or looking to just give yourselves a good name, a good idea would be to maybe nominate someone as a Community Training Officer. This person would ideally be a certified CPR/First Aid instructor, and you could subsequently set up training dates that the students can RSVP to attend.

If you have any questions, you can PM me and I'll be happy to discuss them with you.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

To any of you that have been associated with College Ems Squads...my son is presently a Freshman at our local community college and will transfer to a 4 year school in Sept of 2012. He is contemplating on taking the emt course. He is also a college baseball player and time is usually not friendly during the season. Are the time requirements very stringent? Also do any of the schools wether it be SUNY or private offer any tuition discounts for services rendered. Any response would be appreciated.

I was part of a SUNY campus EMS squad. I did not find the time requirements very stringent. If I remember correctly, we met 7pm-9pm two Sundays a month. We also had to attend 5 standby's a semester minimum. These could be sporting events, concerts ,or other large events that required an EMS crew on standby. I am not sure if being on a night crew was required or if there were monthly requirement but my night crew came around every 9 days or so and I believe went from 10pm-6am as to not interfere with my classes.

[mahopacfire13 0]

I am currently the director of DeSales University EMS down in Allentown, PA. We were named NCEMSF Organization of the Year last year, and we only started up the organization in 2008. We are a PA "Quick response service" (QRS) which treats students, but we do not yet transport (Working on it!) We have about 40 members, with about half being active EMT's. Some are involved in many other things on campus, so we try and not ask to much from our membership as we are completely volunteer. We only have bimonthly meetings and we ask them to run a minimum of 4 on calls a month (12 hours each, in which they just have to take the vehicle and be on campus), with one weekend shift included. We too were stonewalled by many administrators, our police chief, our vice presidents, etc and in some ways still are on certain topics. The best tips towards success that have for you are as follows, some may work, some may not but its what I can offer:

- You need "adults" working for you. Whether it be a professor, a medical director, or a board member, at the end of the day we are still students and can only get so far. An "older person" who is willing to fight for you will prove to be invaluable. We found that our nursing dept. was excited to help us and was willing to fight for university support.

- Generally, I found that if you are denied by one person, go on to the next. Its the old "mommy said no, but maybe daddy will say yes" trick. Dirty tactic? Perhaps but I find that most administrators believe they are in charge of a certain area when their actually not.

-Anything you do, get published. Have the newspaper and news crews invited to every event you host, no matter how big or small. Get your name out there and build up good rapport. Colleges love, and will be more willing to support, ANYTHING that gives them good press to the public. Also check with your admissions staff to make up a pamphlet about your squad. They LOVE showing off how safe their campus is to prospective students.

-Building off that, host events! CPR days, BP screenings, Giveaways, Raffles, Info sessions, ***Drills with police dept, fire dept, nursing dept,*** Start small but do something! Show the school your proactive and will benefit from their continued support.

-Lastly, Cover your you-know-what. Save all e-mails and letters from the school. Get written confirmation of any support or promises they make because we were promised a lot and given a little when those who said they would support us chose to back out and we had no proof.

I hope that helps a bit, feel free to shoot me an e-mail to with any questions I would be more than willing to help it is a battle with administration, but money is out their, especially for emergency management and preparedness. There is no reason you should not get a piece of the pie.

[JohnnyOV 2]

I am currently the director of DeSales University EMS down in Allentown, PA. We were named NCEMSF Organization of the Year last year, and we only started up the organization in 2008. We are a PA "Quick response service" (QRS) which treats students, but we do not yet transport (Working on it!) We have about 40 members, with about half being active EMT's. Some are involved in many other things on campus, so we try and not ask to much from our membership as we are completely volunteer. We only have bimonthly meetings and we ask them to run a minimum of 4 on calls a month (12 hours each, in which they just have to take the vehicle and be on campus), with one weekend shift included. We too were stonewalled by many administrators, our police chief, our vice presidents, etc and in some ways still are on certain topics. The best tips towards success that have for you are as follows, some may work, some may not but its what I can offer:

- You need "adults" working for you. Whether it be a professor, a medical director, or a board member, at the end of the day we are still students and can only get so far. An "older person" who is willing to fight for you will prove to be invaluable. We found that our nursing dept. was excited to help us and was willing to fight for university support.

- Generally, I found that if you are denied by one person, go on to the next. Its the old "mommy said no, but maybe daddy will say yes" trick. Dirty tactic? Perhaps but I find that most administrators believe they are in charge of a certain area when their actually not.

-Anything you do, get published. Have the newspaper and news crews invited to every event you host, no matter how big or small. Get your name out there and build up good rapport. Colleges love, and will be more willing to support, ANYTHING that gives them good press to the public. Also check with your admissions staff to make up a pamphlet about your squad. They LOVE showing off how safe their campus is to prospective students.

-Building off that, host events! CPR days, BP screenings, Giveaways, Raffles, Info sessions, ***Drills with police dept, fire dept, nursing dept,*** Start small but do something! Show the school your proactive and will benefit from their continued support.

-Lastly, Cover your you-know-what. Save all e-mails and letters from the school. Get written confirmation of any support or promises they make because we were promised a lot and given a little when those who said they would support us chose to back out and we had no proof.

I hope that helps a bit, feel free to shoot me an e-mail to with any questions I would be more than willing to help it is a battle with administration, but money is out their, especially for emergency management and preparedness. There is no reason you should not get a piece of the pie.

This is the best advice out there so far. It was the exact same approach we took to get our organization up and running by 2007. If you are looking for more ideas, ncemsf.org is by far the best resource to get your program up and running. Having an "adult," who is from the faculty or administrative staff fully support your actions, is key to getting your organization running. You may have field experience from your local squad back home, and are damn good at talking and BSing your way through a buff conversation to make it seem like this is the cat's meow, but the Board will, and always will look at your organization as kids wanting to play doctor with real live patients with no oversight. Even when presented with case after case of other schools who had full ambulance services that were student run, the liability in today's age is priority on their list of what ifs. Get a faculty member/ fire chief someone who has some "adult experience" to vouch for your team and your efforts might be looked at with a different light.

We went to our city/county's fire departments and office of emergency management and held numerous meetings with their approval and backing 100%. It makes a world of difference to have someone in a white shirt, with 5 bugles on their collar say, "this is a great idea," then three 19 year olds try and make their case.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

This is the best advice out there so far. It was the exact same approach we took to get our organization up and running by 2007. If you are looking for more ideas, ncemsf.org is by far the best resource to get your program up and running. Having an "adult," who is from the faculty or administrative staff fully support your actions, is key to getting your organization running. You may have field experience from your local squad back home, and are damn good at talking and BSing your way through a buff conversation to make it seem like this is the cat's meow, but the Board will, and always will look at your organization as kids wanting to play doctor with real live patients with no oversight. Even when presented with case after case of other schools who had full ambulance services that were student run, the liability in today's age is priority on their list of what ifs. Get a faculty member/ fire chief someone who has some "adult experience" to vouch for your team and your efforts might be looked at with a different light.

We went to our city/county's fire departments and office of emergency management and held numerous meetings with their approval and backing 100%. It makes a world of difference to have someone in a white shirt, with 5 bugles on their collar say, "this is a great idea," then three 19 year olds try and make their case.

Yes that is very good and true but a serious question needs to be asked. Is there an actual need for an on-campus first response agency. If you have ALSFR, ALS transport and BLS PD all coming off the bat, is there really a need for 5 college students who are at best EMT-Bs on scene? My answer would honestly be no, it is not worth it if all these other resources that already exist, function and are already compensated for their services. While it is commendable that an agency would want to start up to help it community, I think a good long hard look at the services already being provided is required. Instead of having a limited on-campus service, why can't any of the students with useful certifications like EMT-B get hired part time or per diem for the commercial ALS service?

I understand reducing response times and wanting to help the campus but there needs to be a void you are filling, not creating a redundancy.

Edited April 18, 2011 by bvfdjc316

[conman 40]

Depends on your location. My school is located in a very rural county. If for some reason the ALS providers are out on multiple calls then we have to wait for a mutual aid ambulance from a neighboring town and for an ems coordinator. And in such a rural county who knows how long that can take. So in my opinion it depends on your layout. If you lucky enough to have a transporting agency then I'd say no but if your located in a rural place then yes because quick pt care is priority.

Edited April 19, 2011 by conman

[FFEMTPD72 2]

To any of you that have been associated with College Ems Squads...my son is presently a Freshman at our local community college and will transfer to a 4 year school in Sept of 2012. He is contemplating on taking the emt course. He is also a college baseball player and time is usually not friendly during the season. Are the time requirements very stringent? Also do any of the schools wether it be SUNY or private offer any tuition discounts for services rendered. Any response would be appreciated.

It's absolutely a useful activity to get into. Rostering and meeting requirements vary between agencies, but if your son is genuinely interested in the field he will have no problem balancing schoolwork and these requirements. Collegiate teams place heavy emphasis on academics-first and understand that student volunteers have priorities.

(I am a former Chief of Operations of my alma mater's emergency response team)

[firemoose827 324]

Yes that is very good and true but a serious question needs to be asked. Is there an actual need for an on-campus first response agency. If you have ALSFR, ALS transport and BLS PD all coming off the bat, is there really a need for 5 college students who are at best EMT-Bs on scene? My answer would honestly be no, it is not worth it if all these other resources that already exist, function and are already compensated for their services. While it is commendable that an agency would want to start up to help it community, I think a good long hard look at the services already being provided is required. Instead of having a limited on-campus service, why can't any of the students with useful certifications like EMT-B get hired part time or per diem for the commercial ALS service?

I understand reducing response times and wanting to help the campus but there needs to be a void you are filling, not creating a redundancy.

Depends on your location. My school is located in a very rural county. If for some reason the als providers are out on multiple calls then we have to wait for a mutual aid ambulance from a neighboring town and for an ema coordinator. And in such a rural county who knows how long that can take. So in my opinion it depends on your layout. If you lucky enough to have a transporting agency then I'd say no but if your located in a rural place then yes because quick pt care is priority.

Not all campus' in the area have paid responders coming in. Ours, as mentioned, has the paid crew but they only have one rig, and do interfacility transports from the local ED as well as mutual aid response to the county for ALS assists and second ambulance responses for MVA's. If they are 45 minutes away delivering a patient to a higher level of care, the school has to rely on the local volunteer group. They are ALS, have 2 rigs and run about 600-700 EMS calls a year. They are a great group, but are getting hit hard as a volunteer group. Having the Student Medical Response Team at least gives us someone on scene to initiate treatment and update incoming crews. In my eyes, this group near me is a necessity.

[JohnnyOV 2]

Yes that is very good and true but a serious question needs to be asked. Is there an actual need for an on-campus first response agency. If you have ALSFR, ALS transport and BLS PD all coming off the bat, is there really a need for 5 college students who are at best EMT-Bs on scene? My answer would honestly be no, it is not worth it if all these other resources that already exist, function and are already compensated for their services. While it is commendable that an agency would want to start up to help it community, I think a good long hard look at the services already being provided is required. Instead of having a limited on-campus service, why can't any of the students with useful certifications like EMT-B get hired part time or per diem for the commercial ALS service?

I understand reducing response times and wanting to help the campus but there needs to be a void you are filling, not creating a redundancy.

Our campus was located in Daytona Beach, which is covered by Daytona Beach Fire Department (ALS first response) and EVAC Ambulance(private, totally compensated, company with a northern VAC name [0 volunteers]). Campus Safety (not police) provided no BLS care prior to Fire/EMS arrival. Our QR team had a budget of $10,000 through Student Government Funding, for 5000 undergrads and 1000 grads; works out to a little less then $2 a person per semester to receive BLS care in under 3 minutes. A majority of time, all patients would be packaged, and waiting at the front door of the building by the time the ambulance arrived ready for transport. Vitals, Sample, full pt history all collected, documented and handed over to the ambulance made for an extremely efficient and quick turn over. Multiple times, over inoxicated students who had stopped breathing, presenting agonal breaths, or aspirating on their vomit were given life saving BLS care, up to 7 minutes before before ALS arrived on scene. Most of the EMT's now work for EVAC or for Daytona International Speedway EMS as a college job when they're not attending school or assisting out on campus.

[nwpfdjr27 39]

Thank you all for the continued input. Since I have had such great replies from everyone, I will give you a more detailed account of our problems:

-We have been a NYS agency since 1996, but in that time, we have been bounced around from department to department on campus, with no real adequate guidance. Everywhere we have ended up, the administrator has been unable to really help us, has been ineffective, or like our current situation, goes against what our members are even for. Currently, our administrator mandated protocols on our agency that our members voted unanimously against. This has been one of the more controversial issues, mainly our public safety officers (almost all only CFRs with a rare EMT in the mix) and residential life officials allowed to make transport decisions for us in the event of a non-injured person (which they consider all intoxicated patients to be... as everyone has said, these are the patients we get the most, but are often one of the most difficult to deal with). I hope most of you CRINGED while reading this, as I do when I tell other people, but this is the reality right now. Unfortunately, being a small campus, we are pretty much out of options as to who can be our administrator while still maintaining our current status and budget.

-Most of our members only obtain their EMT certification upon getting to school and do not ride for any other outside agency. With us only doing about 30 calls per each of our three terms, it is very difficult to have these EMTs gain experience, even with training. We attempted to have members ride with both Schenectady FD and Mohawk Ambulance service to get experience, both of whom were open and willing to do so, but the administrators at our school prohibited us from doing so due to liability reasons. As a result, many of our EMTs struggle to gain confidence in their skills, which I feel is a big downside of our agency.

-Trainings are almost always a bust. The other officers and I work very hard to do bi or tri weekly training sessions, to help give some wiggle room between work, but our attendance at these trainings is always dismal. We have a policy where miss too many and youre out kind of deal, but when people continually have legitimate excuses (like class) to miss trainings, its tough to really win.

-We continually host events around campus, making ourselves present at every campus event we can (yes we have a PR rep in our group whose sole responsibility is community/campus outreach), but we have a very negative image among the student population, being the ones who always show up to "get them transported". Needless to say, we are trying to work on this view on the campus as a whole, but its not an easy battle.

Again, we certainly have room for improvement, and I will bring the helpful points everyone has given to our officers to help us in the battle... But like I said, I still feel like we are continually fighting an uphill battle against everyone around us.

[mahopacfire13 0]

Your problems are certainly not unique, we dealt with, and in many ways are still dealing with, most of the issues you described. For instance, our past police chief tried to impose protocols upon us that we disagreed with and went against our PA EMS protocols. Our medical director came through in a big way then, meeting with the vice presidents and saying we answer to State protocols before anyone else, for our own liability reasons.

As for training, we struggle to find adequate training for our members as well. Ride-alongs would be optimal, but I understand the stink made about liability. We were able to get all our members to arrive early (2-3 days) after summer and winter break, and able to do some hardcore training then to at least build up their confidence a bit. Talk with your res life people, they were very willing to help us out with early move in. We also require a half semester of supervised care before they may be cleared to ride alone. This way more experienced members can show up to calls with them and provide guidance.

The campus stigma seems like a big problem, because the students are your best ally. If they like you, the school almost has to follow. We got an amnesty policy through that allows those who call EMS in the event of a "Policy Violation" (Alcohol related incident, etc) to not have to face any disciplinary action (Don't worry, they still get a talking to, and the patient is still charged for not having self control but the caller is not held liable). We also do some give-aways and humorous T-shirt sales to win over the hearts and minds of the people. Everybody loves free stuff, especially poor college kids.

[EmtFire42 0]

Since you mentioned Schenectady FD and Mohawk I can assume you're not too far from where I go to school and work in collegiate EMS. If you would like, at some point we could possibly meet up and go over the various situations and problems you are having. As a member of one of the largest collegiate EMS agencies on the east coast, if not the country, I can safely say we have faced our fair share of troubles with the university before, and hopefully our past can help you out for the future of your organization.

[traumajunky 5]

A bit further upstate:

http://apps.rit.edu/studentaffairs/studenthealth/rita/

[PFDRes47cue 653]

A bit further upstate:

http://apps.rit.edu/...enthealth/rita/

On the members page it says that everyone is either a medic or not. No EMT-B's? If that is true, it is incredible that the school has that many students who are Paramedics! Keep up the good work.

[conman 40]

My location isn't far from schenectady. We are able to operate pretty well. We train Monday's but we only have about 2 left. Message me if your interested in coming out for a visit. I'm sure I can set up a meeting with at least the officers.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

On the members page it says that everyone is either a medic or not. No EMT-B's? If that is true, it is incredible that the school has that many students who are Paramedics! Keep up the good work.

their medics are just their term for EMT-Bs. They are only rated to NYSDOH BLS Transport and First Response.

It is possible to have medics as undergrads, many of the nursing school grads by the end of their education end up challenging and testing out of the VTEMS and thus USDOT Paramedic program.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

their medics are just their term for EMT-Bs. They are only rated to NYSDOH BLS Transport and First Response.

It is possible to have medics as undergrads, many of the nursing school grads by the end of their education end up challenging and testing out of the VTEMS and thus USDOT Paramedic program.

I know it is very possible to have undergrad medics. I just did not understand how they are rated for NYSDOH BLS Transport and First Response but recognize Paramedics within their squad. I did not realize that they use the term Medic for their EMT-B's. Thanks for the clarification.