Many Boston University students juggle their classes with jobs in restaurants and stores, but a select group of student emergency medical technicians works around the clock to provide medical care, both on and off campus.
The tasks the student EMTs face can range from handing out Band-Aids to transporting patients between hospitals in an ambulance. Some of them work for BU and others for private companies around the city.
School of Management sophomore Mike Perna is one of those that works for a private company. He was certified as an EMT last year and now works for General Ambulance as an ambulance driver.
“I really wanted to do an interesting job … save some lives, make a difference,” Perna said.
He works about 23 hours a week, moving between hospitals and dealing a lot with elderly patients. Once, he was even called to an emergency at Logan Airport, he said.
An emergency can be anything from someone feeling sick or falling down the stairs to an automobile accident, he said.
“You can’t tell what you’re going to do from one day to the next,” he said.
Perna plans to continue working as an EMT for General Ambulance and BU this summer and for BU this fall, he said.
Currently, there are 34 student EMTs working on the BU campus. They are on-call in the Sargent and Case gymnasiums and are also present at all major school sporting events.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Skip Graf, who co-instructs BU’s EMT class and is a first aid supervisor at Case, remembered treating a lacrosse player who took an injury to the ribs and was having serious respiratory problems.
“If something really serious comes up, [patients] don’t have to wait for an ambulance,” he said.
Graf, who grew up on a lake and was a lifeguard in high school, has been a certified EMT since spring 2001. He said the work schedule is pretty flexible, and he is able to schedule courses around the EMT classes.
Although there can be some downtime on the job when all he does is hand out Band-Aids and treat blisters and twisted ankles, student EMTs are always prepared for the worst, Graf said.
“I feel like I’m doing something productive, contributing to society in some way,” he said.
In order to get EMT certifications and land jobs, all of the students needed extensive training in the field. Many of them got it by taking BU’s EMT class.
The course, offered through the Department of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and open to the outside community, prepares students to take the state’s written and practical certification exams, according to Emergency Medical Services Training Coordinator Jason Light.
About 20 to 50 students fill the class every semester, taking on 140 hours of lectures and hands-on labs. Despite the demanding course load, the majority of students pass the state exams the first time, Light said.
State-certified coordinators and lab instructors teach students about anatomy, assessment and treatment of various emergencies and patient lifting and moving techniques, among other skills.
“It’s pretty intense,” said EMS Coordinator Ray Levy, adding that “it’s an amazing class.”
Levy recalled his undergraduate years, when BU only offered CPR and first aid classes. In 1995, BU added a first response course, which became so popular that students requested a higher-level course. Three years later, Levy took a class to become an instructor coordinator, and in spring 1999, the first EMT class attracted 30 students.
While the course continues to be popular among pre-med students, it also draws students from many different majors, he said.
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