I f you peek into a few ground floor classrooms of Northwestern’s Annenberg Hall on Monday and Thursday evenings, you might be met with an unexpected sight. A mannequin of the top half of a human body lies on the ground, two students crouched over it. One of them is pressing the sides of a clear oxygen mask, like those modeled by flight attendants during pre-flight safety orientations, against the mannequin’s face. This oxygen mask funnels into a large rubber bag that a second student periodically compresses. Other students stand to the side, a few holding an eclectic assortment of medical gear. All the students are wearing collared Northwestern-purple t-shirts, scrupulously tucked into the waistbands of their black cargo pants.

Together, the two students are operating a bag-valve mask, used to ventilate for non-breathing patients. The students are emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in-training, currently taking a hands-on exam, called a clinical. You have just stumbled across one of the biweekly classes of Northwestern Emergency Medical Organization (NEMO).

Collegiate EMS

While EMS refers to the system that responds to emergencies and can include firefighters, police and paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are providers of EMS. They provide basic life support and transport patients. However, not all EMTs are allowed to provide the same range of care. There are several different levels of EMT, where paramedic (EMT-P) is generally the highest and has the largest scope of practice.

Collegiate EMS has existed since the 1990s, but was not widespread. In 1993, the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF) was founded as a national group of campus medical responders. The goal of NCEMSF was to facilitate the interconnectivity of collegiate EMS across the nation, as well as support the establishment of new EMS groups on campuses. Since then, college and university EMS has taken off. Today, over 250 colleges and universities have student-run EMS, many of which serve the campus in conjunction with city officials as well as offering classes and certification programs.

To become an EMT, there are a few requirements that vary by state. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) provides guidelines for certification on a national scale, but to practice within a state, EMTs must apply for state licenses. Illinois applicants must complete an EMT training course approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health as well as have state-approved CPR training. They must then take either the NREMT examination or the State of Illinois EMS Systems Examination and pass a background check before they are eligible for the EMT certificate.

Resuscitating Northwestern’s EMS

Northwestern’s EMS, NEMO, was originally founded in 2010 as an interest group for certified EMTs to get together and occasionally host guest lecturers like paramedics and doctors. Although basic CPR courses were offered, people wanting further medical training had to turn to local community colleges that taught EMT courses or take the courses over the summer on their own.

Two and a half years ago, Sophia Settle, 22, left Emory University for Northwestern. Emory, besides having the most comprehensive health system in Georgia, has an extensive student-led EMS founded in 1992 that provides care on campus, teaches EMT training courses and works in close collaboration with local authorities. Settle decided to take the existing NEMO and turn it into something closer to Emory’s EMS.

“She basically single handedly started the program we know today as NEMO, which is the class training and everything,” NEMO training sergeant Kate Janda, 20, says of Settle.

At the end of 2017, NEMO opened applications for its first EMT training course. The $700 course was a steep discount from courses offered elsewhere, but required two years of service back to the club in return. Settle had cold-called EMT instructors and eventually was able to secure paramedic and EMT instructor Martin Walsh, 30, for the job of teaching Northwestern’s premiere course.

"They're very cognizant of our student schedules here, which leads to some really wacky times for classes," Janda says.

A few weeks later, 25 students met in Annenberg for their first class. The biweekly lessons were held on Mondays and Thursdays, from 6 to 10 pm over the course of 16 weeks. Many of the current officers were students in this class and quickly realized how passionate they were about EMS.

"People know that seriously, if anything ever went wrong, they could always call one of us and we'd be there," lieutenant Dave Vayngart, 20, says.

In May of 2018, NEMO grew from around seven or eight members, to over thirty. This May, another 22 students are expected to graduate.

NEMO Looks Forward to a Long Life Ahead

Besides the annual EMT course, the organization is also trying to carve out more of a name for itself on campus.

"No one really knows that we exist,” Janda says. “When I say I'm a part of NEMO, people are like, ‘What? The fish?' and I’m like, ‘No, the emergency medical organization. I’m an EMT.’”

NEMO has been providing basic first aid at NU Dance Marathon for the past couple of years, and is looking to possibly perform a similar function at Dillo Day. Beyond that, Vayngart says that the organization is looking long-term at acquiring a quick response vehicle to serve Northwestern’s campus. NEMO would work in collaboration with Northwestern and Evanston EMS to arrive first on scene and begin providing care.

Walsh, too, is a big proponent for expanding the role that NEMO plays on Northwestern’s campus.

“I believe that every single university should be aimed at enriching the student experience,” Walsh says. “If the student is more safe, they have a more enriched experience.”