Student EMTs provide care at campus events

If someone gets hurt at a large campus event, there’s a good chance that student Emergency Medical Technicians will be there to help. \nIU Emergency Medical Service, a group of students who are trained as EMT-Basics and first aid personnel, provide medical care to victims of major or minor accidents at various campus events. \nThe group can administer CPR and first aid, tend to general bleeding and respond to people who have airway problems such as shortness of breath or asthma attacks. They are also authorized to use an automated external defibrillator, if needed. \nDarsheet Patel, a senior and president of IU-EMS, said the group first started in the mid 1990s and is working hard this year to increase its visibility on campus. \nThe club holds a CPR and first-aid training session every semester that is open to the public, and also administers a practical exam in one of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation’s EMT courses. \n“We are always accepting new members,” he said. “We would like them to be certified in both CPR and first aid, both of which we have the authorization to train and give certification in.”\nPatel said he hopes the group becomes an auxiliary to both the IU Police Department and the Bloomington Hospital Ambulance Service, which provides ambulance service to the IU campus. \n“We want to work hand-in-hand with the BHAS and the IUPD by providing a quick response, non-transport team to assist in patient care,” he said. “The only thing is that we are unsure who we need to talk to to move forward.”\nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said that BHAS provides the primary emergency response service to campus. He said he is unsure how a student group could respond quicker to an emergency.\nStill, he said that he “would be willing entertain a meeting with the IU-EMS to discuss how they feel they could work closer (with us).”\nPatel said qualified students can join the group any time. Students who do not have medical training can get that certification through the group, he said. Meetings for members are held once a month. \nThe group is present at most student events, ranging from the IU Dance Marathon to the Little 500, Patel said.\nPatel said the club was started by students who were passionate about medicine and wanted to help local EMT and ambulance units. \n“A lot of Big Ten schools had already established quick response teams to help their local medical personnel,” he said. “They saw that we needed one as well, so they started the organization, began recruiting other students who were interested and began contacting the necessary people to see this group come to life.”\nThe group currently has 50 to 55 student volunteers, and recently restructured its governing board. This will be Patel’s fourth year with the group, and his second as president. \nHe said he likes the excitement and the experience that comes with helping people in need. \n“Most of the cases I’ve had to deal with are first-aid trauma-related cases,” Patel said. “Since I started as a freshman, this was good because I had had little experience with this type of work.”