UMass Lowell Emergency Medical Services Program Shines in Collegiate Contest
04/04/2018
Contact: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – For El Cerrito, Calif., native Jon De Leon, it was a major reason he came all the way across the country to attend UMass Lowell.
For UMass Lowell graduate Sean MacLeod, it taught him leadership and management skills that helped him land a coveted job at Big 4 accounting firm Ernst & Young.
UMass Lowell’s award-winning Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program does more than provide professional-quality care to the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year. To the dozens of dedicated students who work as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) each year, the program provides real-world experience that propels them in a variety of career fields.
Now, the program has earned national recognition. Competing against more than 30 collegiate teams from across North America, UMass Lowell EMS recently finished second in the Physio-Control Skills Classic at the annual conference of the National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF) in Philadelphia.
It was the university’s best-ever finish at the competition, which tests students’ skills, teamwork and leadership in three simulated scenarios: medical and trauma response situations and team-building opportunities.
Led by UMass Lowell Director of Life Safety and Emergency Preparedness Richard Wood and Assistant Manager for EMS Patrick Kiley, 10 students attended the three-day NCEMSF conference along with EMS organizations from more than 100 colleges and universities. In addition to testing their skills in the competition, students learned the latest in medical and trauma response, disaster preparedness and emergency management through expert panels, roundtable discussions and hands-on labs.
“It was definitely a big surprise to finish second. I know I jumped in the air,” said Nathan Roberts, a senior biotechnology major from North Brookfield, Mass.
Roberts and De Leon were joined on the team by junior public health major Chris Gottschalk from Everett and Stephanie Zuber, a junior who is double-majoring in public health and biology.
“The reason we did so well is that we just did the same thing we do every day with our patients,” said Zuber, a Haverhill native who’s been a member of UMass Lowell EMS for two years. “We went through the assessments, got the histories and did the interventions. We’re a pretty tight team, so everything flowed well.”
UMass Lowell also was among 12 schools recognized at the conference as an EMS Ready Campus. The designation is for collegiate EMS agencies that go beyond regular patient care activity and incorporate emergency-management education and preparedness activities.
Gottschalk, who prepared UMass Lowell’s contest submission along with senior Ryan Corliss of Chelsea, predicts the program could achieve a silver medal at next year’s conference after falling just short this year. In 2016, the EMS team received the Striving for Excellence Award from the NCEMSF and was also recognized for Website of the Year. In 2014, UMass Lowell was designated a HeartSafe Campus for its commitment to training and awareness of emergency cardiac care.
Nearly 40 students participate in UMass Lowell EMS, which was founded as a student club in 1984 and has grown to include a cadet program for EMTs in training. It also provides supplemental emergency services for university events and offers CPR and first-aid training to hundreds of people each year.
Gottschalk became interested in EMT work as a high-school student in Everett. He worked for a private EMS company for three years before joining UMass Lowell EMS last year. Gottschalk is able to count the hours toward the pre-hospital time he needs to attend graduate school to become a physician assistant.
“This is a great way to get that practice. I’m learning so much,” Gottschalk said.
De Leon became certified as an EMT his freshman year through a university-affiliated class offered at Middlesex Community College’s Bedford campus. He’s been a member of UMass Lowell EMS for the past two-and-a-half years.
“There’s a nice family atmosphere here and it’s a really good learning environment,” De Leon said. “It’s nice to be able to practice your skills while also giving back to the university and community, as well.”
In addition to organizing semi-annual training courses for UMass Lowell EMS staff and bringing in guest speakers, the group’s student leaders have also been working to connect with alumni of the program.
One such alum, MacLeod, managed UMass Lowell EMS for three years – two years as a student and then one more year after earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration from UMass Lowell’s Manning School of Business in 2016. The Tewksbury native had to step down after landing a job at Ernst & Young in Boston last summer, although he’s been actively trying to build an alumni network. Last fall, he organized a small reunion at UMass Lowell’s River Hawk Homecoming.
“I definitely gained leadership and management experience from the program that I wouldn’t have got any other way,” MacLeod said. “Skills most people don’t get until they’re 10 years out of school, I got while I was still in college. I was much more prepared to go into the business world, where I’ve been able to leverage that experience.”
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu