Jason Light has an unusual way of getting off Commonwealth Avenue and experiencing more of Boston. As an emergency medical technician, the College of Engineering senior works on ambulances and even gets into Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts for free.
He also helps teach the EMT class offered through Boston University’s Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. The class has prepared more than 300 students to take the state exams, and many go on to work or volunteer for ambulance companies, hospitals and the University.
In his six years as an EMT, Light has responded to car accidents, shootings, broken bones and chest pains and said the worst case occurred when two kids about 10 years old combined gasoline and fire, engulfing themselves in flames.
“Not every call is the same and it’s not all out of a textbook,” Light said. “You develop your thinking skills and learn to think quickly. I have a different regard for where I live and the people there.”
EMT work opened his eyes to sweatshops in his hometown of Stratford, Conn., and involved ensuring homeless drug addicts and residents of $6 million homes all receive the best treatment and care, Light said.
“If you think of BU as the entire world, it’s a gross misrepresentation,” Light said. “You have a much larger awareness of what’s around you [as an EMT]. I think one of the biggest skills you get is being able to interact with so many people. You have to leave behind your personal reservations and feel at home too.”
Light gets less emergency experience here because Boston Emergency Medical Services responds to most calls. His nine-hour shifts for Armstrong Ambulance Service in Brighton mostly involve transferring patients. Although students can get more emergency experience in outlying communities, Light said it is a trade-off because of the longer commute.
In somewhat of a barter system, Light also attends performances by the BSO, which enlists medically trained people to attend shows in case any medical problems occur.
On Thursday evenings, he teaches about 40 students in BU’s EMT class. He said he has enjoyed watching the BU program grow over the past four years, and hopes to remain involved during his graduate work toward becoming a doctor.
“As an EMT, you can only do so much,” Light said. “The main thing is to keep someone stable and alive ’til they get to the hospital. I want to be able to do more.”
The emergency medical response classes mostly attract pre-med students like Light, but are open to all BU students, faculty and staff.
In January 1999, EMS Coordinator Raymond Levy added the EMT classes to other offerings in CPR and first aid. The 132-hour, 2-credit
class uses lectures and labs to teach students about topics like anatomy, childbirth, drug overdoses, and diabetic emergencies. Students take written tests and a practical exam with eight stations on CPR, defibrillation, splints, patient assessments and mobilizing patients.
“The feedback I’ve gotten is that it’s been one of the most interesting classes they’ve take at BU,” Levy said. “They want to get experience providing health care and treating injuries.”
Students may volunteer for extra observation on ambulances or in hospitals. For example, the Boston Medical Center allows students to observe whatever they want.
“They sometimes take vital signs and interview patients and can shadow a doctor or nurse,” Levy said. “It’s a great learning environment and allows them to get a lot of experience.”
Levy said he hopes to continue expanding his program to meet rising student interest. Pending approval from the University and Boston Medical Center, a paramedic course would train students in the highest level of pre-hospital care. He hopes it will start next year, but said the “large undertaking” was not a sure thing.
While Levy does not offer placement services for EMTs to work in hospitals and ambulances, he runs a first responder program that stations students at Case and Sargent Gymnasiums and at The Shed. About 35 work-study employees treat mostly minor injuries, like bruises, scrapes and sprains.
“Occasionally we do get something more serious, and we are prepared for that,” Levy said, saying students have had to deal with a cardiac arrest in 1992, as well as asthma attacks, seizures and falls. The students also provide support for special events, such as Friday night’s Back Bay Ball.
According to the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation, about 200 schools have some kind of campus-based emergency response group, including BU, Boston College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University.
On Friday afternoon, College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Skip Graf shared the closet-like Case First Aid Station with spine boards, splints, crutches, an oxygen tank, a wheelchair, an automatic defibrillator, ice coolers, an obstetrics kit and other medical equipment crammed into the room about six-feet by 10-feet.
He said he sees about two injuries each week, mostly from basketball, although none have been more serious than a sprain or involved blood. While providing plenty of time to study for organic chemistry, the job also provides more interesting, hands-on knowledge.
“It’s not action packed,” Graf said. “But you get to learn how to care for a patient.”
After taking last spring’s EMT class at BU, he now teaches some labs and enthusiastically recommended the training.
“Ray (Levy) goes above and beyond what the state requires,” Graf said. “We get to do a lot of things you don’t get anywhere else. You have to nail everything 100 percent or he won’t let you go on. If you can pass Ray’s exams, you can pass the state exams.”
Graf is about to start ride-alongs with Eascare Ambulance Services, where he will be able to do whatever he feels comfortable doing and have someone to assist or take over.
“It’s learning and working at the same time,” he said. “It’s always patient first when it comes to care. I don’t want to rush in.”
As an EMT, Graf said he has learned he thrives on the unpredictability of emergency care, and plans to pursue it as a career rather than becoming a surgeon.
For now, he enjoys being a link in the chain of medical treatment.
“It’s about telling yourself you are physically capable,” Graf said. “I do have the power to save someone’s life if that situation does arise.”
