EMTs Samuel Schweighart and Justine Wang '06 are two of more than 60 volunteer EMTs staffing the Student Emergency Medical Service at MIT. Both also work part time for off-campus, professional ambulance services.

Schweighart obtained his EMT certification as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, while Wang completed her training here at MIT. "Training involved long hours during IAP," Wang says. "The hardest thing for MIT students was being awake that early every morning!"

It started as one student's vision of a campus-wide "first responder" network—individuals in each living group who could respond quickly to medical emergencies and provide basic life support until help arrived. Three years later, it's evolved into a student-run ambulance and emergency medical service that each year trains 40 new EMTs, transports more than 150 patients, and saves MIT nearly $100,000.

In the summer of 2000, graduate student Mike Folkert (MIT '98), who first earned his EMT (emergency medical technician) certification as a high school student in North Dakota, got together with other interested students to form the Student Emergency Medicine Society (SEMS) and proposed offering first-responder training on campus. But as SEMS members and administrators started discussing how the new group would fit into MIT's current emergency medical response system, the scope of the project began expanding.

"Student demand for confidential transport services was a major catalyst," notes SEMS chief Samuel Schweighart, a graduate student in aerospace engineering. "The administration saw our group as a solution."

"At that time, Campus Police were running the medical calls," explains Nick Wyhs '05, director of ambulance operations. "But they had a conflict of interest acting both as EMTs and as police officers, especially when alcohol or drugs were involved." And some students were reluctant to call for help in such situations."

"Police were also being asked to spend more resources on campus security," Schweighart adds. "As they moved away from providing EMT services, we filled the void."

"In some ways it was obvious," says MIT Medical's medical director, William Kettyle, M.D. "We had an underutilized ambulance; we had experienced student EMTs and more students interested; and we had a community needing emergency transport services. It's no surprise that MIT students could come up with a plan that used available resources, met community needs, and fit the culture of the Institute."

After running courses in 2001 and 2002, each beginning with 130 hours of classroom instruction, the student EMT base reached a critical mass. The new ambulance service made its debut during the summer of 2002.

Approximately 60 student EMTs now staff the emergency service every evening and four overnights per week. With an intimate knowledge of the campus, SEMS boasts an average response time of two minutes. The group also provides coverage for MIT athletic events and commencement and does scheduled patient transfers between MIT Medical's inpatient unit and area hospitals.

A new ambulance is arriving soon, while a move to 24-hour coverage and a new ambulance bay are in the works. "MIT Medical is working with Campus Police, Environmental Health and Safety, and the Dean for Student Life to find a suitable location for the ambulance bay and to fund its construction," Kettyle notes. "It's collaboration like this that has enabled us to improve emergency services on campus."

Working as an EMT and volunteering for SEMS are "the best jobs imaginable," says EMT Karen Keller '04. "What's not to like about saving lives?" she asks. "And," she adds, "You haven't experienced driving until you've driven down Mass. Ave., through red lights, on the wrong side of the road, accompanied by lights and sirens!"