EMTs offer valuable service

By Christopher DaCosta

Every night, junior Abid Mogannam prepares for the intense effects of heavy alcohol use, gory wounds and plenty of mayhem. As a combined sciences major, he's sure to bring along his organic chemistry textbook for some quick review.

"I don't ever get much studying done," Mogannam said.

Mogannam is not a regular at local house parties; instead, he and about 20 other students volunteer as certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) every night of the week. On these nights, between calls to duty, Mogannam often attempts to get some studying done as his radio earpiece relays crackly Campus Safety messages.

EMTs serve the campus community as a division of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), which also includes firefighter response, ambulance response and dispatch.

Many students often use EMS and EMT interchangeably, while some are unsure of what duties an EMT assumes. "I think that EMTs are supposed to help with medical emergencies, but I don't know what they are specifically certified to do," said junior Ryan Pocharsky.

Pocharsky's definition is correct to an extent. According to Chabot College, a Hayward emergency service program provider, an EMT is trained to provide expert medical care to people suffering from various ailments and injuries.

Such "medical care" includes condition stabilization, control of bleeding and numerous other treatments. Responsibilities can even extend to consist of emergency driving capabilities.

"Common things we have to deal with are abdominal pain, when people get sick and they don't know what to do and, of course, alcohol," said Justin Buell, a Santa Clara EMT. "And that can range into anything from someone who doesn't need our help as much to somebody who is going into arrest and actually has alcohol poisoning."

Among these issues, EMTs also respond to sports injuries around campus, most frequently at the Pat Malley Fitness Center.

To get started as an EMT on campus, one must undergo a course that fulfills all requirements identified by the state.

EMT-B is one of three classifications, the others being EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic. The EMT-B course is the precursor to taking the county exam for EMT certification, it includes approximately 128 hours of lecture, an ambulance ride-along and activities at hospitals.

"I got certified the summer after I graduated from high school and I started here as a freshman because I thought it would be a great way to keep up my skills," Mogannam said.

The knowledge he gained as an EMT has since been extremely pragmatic. "Because of my training, I've been able to pull over and help people involved in accidents on the road," Mogannam said.

Serving as one of the directors of the EMT program, Mogannam says there is more to the experience than tending to people and their injuries.

"Directors help organize everything and make sure things go smoothly," he said.

One rookie accompanies one veteren on every call. Such pairings assist in passing down knowledge as well as insurance that every situation is in capable hands, according to Mogannam.

Mogannam explains that once he is on the scene, he means business. "It's easy to adapt and remain disconnected from the situation, even if I know the people involved I just do my job and get out," he said.

Both Mogannam and Buell are happy to be doing a service to the community. Consequently, many students are grateful for their presence. "I think that they're [the EMTs] a positive fixture on our campus and prevent things from getting any worse," said junior Trisha Chang.

Other students are often worried that EMTs are also authority figures who can get them in trouble. "We get a lot of people asking if they are going to get in trouble or not," said Mogannam. "Nothing we do, though, has to do with disciplinary action."

According to Buell, other authorities, such as Community Facilitators, deal with further action once EMTs have been called. Buell also said that Campus Safety usually reports to a scene, while police rarely show up.

Being an EMT gives Mogannam an experience that will supplement his future aspirations to become a doctor. "There are people who volunteer in hospitals and file papers and give blankets but this program is the closest you can get with the most contact," Mogannam said.

Even potential summer job placements remain a motivation to continue his experience as an EMT. "I can say that I am up to date and ready to work," said Mogannam.

Buell, who recently graduated to veteran-status-EMT, is a senior political science major with no future plans involving medicine. Instead he is using the EMT program to be prepared for any situation. "I lived in Swig freshman year then I lived in Dunne, and when things got really bad people were like 'what do we do?,'" Buell said. "So I wanted to know what to do and there seemed to be a lot of opportunities to help people."

The EMT program requires a dedicated time commitment. Participants are on call throughout most of the night and must stay awake until as late as 2 a.m. Duty ends at 8 a.m. the next morning. "Since things get started late on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, we have to stay on campus until two."

This often means coordinating homework, sleep and hobbies around EMT work. "You do end up rearranging a lot of your life, especially social life stuff," said Mogannam. "But we are students first."

However, both Mogannam and Buell say that despite the long hours of volunteer work, their experiences have been rewarding.

"It might seem odd to a lot of people to sit in an office on a Friday night and wait for some kid to call for help," said Buell. "But it is fun and you learn a lot by helping people."