Student-Run Agency Provides EMS at Duke University
Students taking care of students: That’s the concept of Duke University EMS (DUEMS). Operating out of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, DUEMS is a purely student-run, volunteer event medicine organization. It operates under the division of Duke Life Flight, adhering to their protocols and training direction.
“Duke University EMS is composed of [more than 30] Duke-affiliated students, all of whom are EMT Basic or above certified,” said DUEMS Director Sofia DiFulvio, who is a Duke student herself. “You don't have to be a Duke undergraduate to be on DUEMS, you just have to be affiliated with Duke.”
DUEMS was founded by Matt Womble, Tim Pieh, and Sacha Picard in 1993 as a 24/7 rescue squad, in partnership with Durham County EMS. It expanded its services over the years until pausing operations in August 2017. In Fall 2018, DUEMS resumed services under Duke Life Flight’s medical oversight.
Today, DUEMS provides clinical EMS services to major sporting and social events on campus.
“We work at basketball, football, lacrosse, soccer games, and then at big events like the last day of classes,” DiFulvio told EMS World. “We also work some of our bigger basketball-related parties, because that's a big part of what Duke University is about.”
In addition to providing EMS support on campus, DUEMS stages community-related events through its outreach program. “We teach hands-on CPR and basic lifesaving skills like AED usage to members of our community,” said Cody Powell, DUEMS’ Outreach Officer. “Over the last year, we’ve trained about 2,000 people in CPR and AED usage.”
DUEMS outreach also works with the Duke Student Wellness Center. “In partnership with them, we run a program called Social Host where we teach alcohol safety rules to different Duke groups and social clubs that are going to be hosting events on campus,” Powell said. “We also teach hands-on CPR and the use of Narcan to help their organizers with some common party-related issues that may arise.”
If this isn’t enough, DUEMS operates Camp Empowerment, a summer program (both online and in-person) that teaches first aid and CPR to middle and high school students in the Durham region. As well, DUEMS teaches a for-credit, student-led course at Duke called "Intro to EMS," covering emergency response, physiology, and the structure of the EMS/9-1-1 system.
Despite the many demands on DUEMS members, the student-run EMS agency receives plenty of applications, allowing it to be selective in its enrollment choices. “We have a pretty extensive interview process where essentially people will apply based on a written application,” DiFulvio said. “They have to meet certain qualifications, have the appropriate certifications, and then they each have an hour-long interview that consists of scenarios and certain skills that they're able to perform.”
“A lot of [students] want to get clinical experience to expand their EMT skills and to get access to all the training that we do,” DiFulvio said. “Others are really looking for the community aspects of EMS. We’re a pretty tight-knit group. We train together, spend time together, and learn from each other. Other people cite the outreach efforts that we do as a reason for joining. As well, event medicine is something that's pretty unique. Once you have an EMT certification, you can go work in an ER as a med tech or in a 9-1-1 service and hop on a truck.”
For DUEMS’ student leaders, the experience is one of the biggest highlights of their time at Duke. The training and hands-on experience can be instrumental in solidifying their career paths after graduation. Many members plan to pursue careers in emergency medicine or other medical specialties, while continuing to volunteer or work with EMS groups in the future.
“What really makes it worthwhile is what we get out of it,” Powell said. “I joined to meet new people, to help everyone around us, and enhance my skills. I love doing the outreach work as well, meeting all these new people and seeing the skills that we teach being put into work. This is why being a part of DUEMS is truly a worthwhile experience.
