During the 2019 National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF) annual convention held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Feb. 22-24, members of UMass Emergency Medical Services (UMEMS) were presented with the Foundation’s EMS Ready Campus recognition.
The NCEMSF EMS Ready Campus program recognizes excellence in emergency management and disaster preparedness of collegiate EMS organizations. Additionally, the program provides a framework for the enhancement of emergency management education, overall campus preparedness and response capabilities for the applicant organization.
The recognition, shared with only 33 other colleges and universities nationwide, comes after UMass EMS worked through a combination of self-evaluation, dynamic interaction with NCEMSF staff and by completing a group of prescribed tasks. The recognition highlights organizations that have embraced the challenges of EMS operations outside of traditional patient-care activities.
Active on campus since the 1950s, UMEMS emergency medical technicians (EMTs) provide first response care at events on campus, routinely treating hundreds of patients each year at over 400 staffed events. The unit also provides outreach education to the campus community in first aid and CPR. The unit recently reinstituted an EMT program training new EMTs, and also works to provide training for EMT recertification.
Working under the umbrella of Environmental Health and Safety and Emergency Management, UMEMS is a campus partner in preparing for and responding to emergency needs at UMass. Robert Laford, assistant director for Emergency Management and long-time advisor to UMEMS stated, “The Ready Campus recognition given to UMEMS and its members is well deserved and shows the efforts they put into place to help our campus every day. The group is an important and respected emergency services partner at UMass.”