College of Charleston Fire and EMS

The seventeenth annual conference of the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF) was held February 26-28, 2010 in Baltimore, MD. Over 800 representatives of campus EMS organizations from 91 schools across the U.S. and Canada attended the conference. This year the College of Charleston EMS sent a delegation of 13 students.

NCEMSF is a non-profit professional organization committed to scholarship, research and consultancy activities and to creating a safer, healthier environment on college and university campuses. Comprised of over 250 college campus based emergency medical service (EMS) agencies trained to respond within minutes and provide care tailored specifically to campus emergencies, NCEMSF’s purpose is to support, promote, and advocate EMS on college and university campuses nationwide. The annual conference provides a forum for communication and creates an environment where ideas can be exchanged and problems can be solved.

College of Charleston Fire and EMS Personnel with NCEMSF mascot Professor Squirrel at the 2010 conference.

“This year marked the Foundation’s 17th Anniversary and was the largest gathering of collegiate EMS providers to date in terms of the number of attendees and the number of schools represented,” said Dr. Scott Savett, NCEMSF Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “Despite an impending winter storm, a record number of Collegiate EMS organizations from across the country were able to come together and share information on how to implement or improve campus EMS at their school. Being able to ask a large group of people very specificquestions about campus EMS operations is a terrific opportunity.”

“In addition to providing for the acquisition of medical knowledge, campus based EMS allows student participants to develop certain life skills including leadership, communication, and decision making whilesimultaneously positively impacting other people’s lives,”  said Dr. George Koenig, NCEMSF President. “What is most impressive about campus based EMS is that much of this service is provided primarily by students attending those colleges and universities. It is students helping fellow students.

This year’s conference seminars included over 60 lectures packed into two days ranging from the treatment and management of various traumatic and medical emergencies to EMS research  to leadership and strategic planning for the collegiate EMS agency.  Other lectures discussed toxicology, EMS and public health as well as disaster preparedness. A series of roundtable discussions took place in which leaders and advisors from various university squads reviewed common problems facing their squads and challenged themselves to find feasible solutions. The conference also featured several skills labs focussing on airway management and enhancing communication skills. College of Charleston EMS personnel logged over 100 hours of training during this year’s conference.

McMaster University placed first in the annual Collegiate EMS skills competition (sponsored by Physio-Contol) in which team’s clinical, leadership and creativity skills were tested. Brown finished second, and Cornell University rounded out the top three at third. The scenarios replicated medical, trauma and rescue situations with an emphasis on the college environment. The College of Charleston placed 8th out of 35 teams.

For more information about NCEMSF or the 2010 Conference, including a copy of the complete program, please visit the Foundation´s website at www.ncemsf.org. The 2010 NCEMSF conference is scheduled for February 25-27 2011- location to be determined.