As the semester winds down and Last Day of Class festivities take center stage in students’ minds, Duke Emergency Medical Services (DUEMS) is quietly gearing up for a surge in calls.
A division of the police department and Duke Life Flight, DUEMS provides medical services at a wide range of Duke events. Its staff serve on an all-volunteer basis — and, notably, are all students.
Founded in 1993 by students Matt Womble, Tim Pieh and Sacha Picard, DUEMS strives to “create a safer environment for the Duke community.”
“I think we've done a really great job of getting a lot of training and a lot of outreach and really growing Duke EMS on campus,” said senior Amy Fulton, former Duke EMS director.
DUEMS’s responsibilities primarily involve providing medical services at sporting and other large social events, such as LDOC. The students staffing the events are fully EMT certified, and thus are able to provide full medical evaluations, emergency treatments and transportation to hospitals if necessary. DUEMS does so in partnership with members from Duke Life Flight, an emergency medical transport agency that services ambulances to nearby hospitals.
DUEMS plays a critical role in on-campus emergency response, serving as the first line of medical assistance for 911 calls during campus events it is staffing. When a call is made, the command center will assess the location of the person in need and whether DUEMS is on shift and then determine whether DUEMS or Durham County EMS will respond.
“I feel like Duke EMS is so incredibly impactful,” said sophomore Aarushi Singh, who joined “the squad” this past fall as a way to continue practicing the EMT skills she learned last summer.
In addition to responding to emergencies, Duke EMS also educates the campus and broader community in medical preparedness. The student organization works with DuWell to provide Social Host training, which teaches students how to keep peers safe at events where alcohol is present. The program is on track to reach over 2,000 students this year, covering nearly one-third of Duke’s undergraduate population.
Beyond that, DUEMS offers instruction in first aid, CPR, Narcan administration and bleeding control to various groups and Greek life organizations.
DUEMS members also teach a house course called How to Save a Life: An Introduction to Emergency Medicine, where students learn first aid skills, the deeper physiology behind emergency medicine, how the 911 system works and what bystanders can do in the event of a medical emergency.
“I would say we spend probably just about as much time doing trainings and outreach as we do providing [medical] service,” Fulton said.
That “outreach” extends beyond Duke into the Durham community, with the student group providing events like camps for middle and high school students who want to learn emergency medicine and hosting training events for other Durhamites.
Singh, who gave a training at a local church this semester, noted that “such trainings are a large part of why she got involved with DUEMS.
“EMS empowered me a lot, and being able to empower others is also something for me that felt like a very full-circle moment,” Singh said.
Ana Despa contributed reporting.
Editor's note: This article was updated Wednesday morning to clarify the nature of DUEMS’s partnership with Duke Life Flight, as well as that DUEMS only responds to 911 calls during events they are staffed to on campus.
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Winston Qian is a Pratt sophomore and health/science editor for the news department.