Working on a college campus is, dare I say it, an adventure. From ETOH calls to severe trauma, our little squad has seen quite a number of incidents. We have responded to emergencies on and off campus, providing first response to MVAs and other injuries on the main street just off campus. And how cool is it now that we have a squad that has nearly doubled in size in a matter of a week? Most of these fresh first responders are surprisingly eager to learn more and as the weeks go on, more and more are interested in taking our EMT-Basic class. I remember when I was helping to teach the CPR class, that most of these same first responders did not raise a hand when asked about advancing to EMT certification. What does that say about the squad? We are getting better, we are attracting better people, and we are moving towards a higher quality of care. We are now, for the first time in our university EMS's history, getting a vehicle, nothing fancy and without emergency lights, but its a start. This way, we can get backboards and essential equipment to a scene faster and without sacrificing man power to do so. I firmly believe that our fellow students will begin realizing, if they haven't already, that there has been a positive, and noticeable, change in the way we handle emergency situations on campus. This change in confidence does not come from uniforms, being an all EMT service, or anything of that sort. We are a first responder group that has consistently proven ourselves on challenging scenes with one to multiple patients. We have earned the respect of the ambulance service that transports for us and we have earned the respect from those in the city around us. We have gained the confidence because we know we are good and we know we can do better.
Moral of the story: Training/Education, building trust, and building teamwork are ingredients in creating an amazing efficient, positive, and motivated group.
We volunteer thousands of hours per year in service to our school and we do so without one complaint. This is to all the EMT-Basics and First Responders that make up one of the best EMS squads on a college campus.
You should be proud of yourself and your department-- you are growing, providing excellent medical care and all learning as a result. You have hit the nail on the head-- the solution to a lot of things, especially in college EMS is EDUCATION, not necessarily training. It starts with vital signs, classes on true patient assessment (because that assessment is the core of what we do as responders), then what to do with the newly collected information.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on strong work!