Most University of Maryland students spent their summer back at home, going to the beach, vacations, summer jobs, or even internships. However, not many can say that they spent their summer becoming an Emergency Medical Technician.
Juniors Mia Griffin and Kareen Hill spent their summer here in the College Park area, training for their future. Hill, a nutrition major, said she decided to become certified to get as much hands-on experience as she could.
Starting in June, both girls went to Firehouse Station 12, located across the street from The Varsity, every day Monday thru Friday. Each student going through the program was required to take a test every single day. If they did not get a passing grade, they were dropped from the program immediately. Both girls agreed that it was a very intense environment and there were high expectations.
“All these people doubted us,” said Griffin, a public health major. “They called us ‘Snooki and Barbie.’”
The girls made it their mission to prove them wrong. They are now volunteer EMT workers at their station. The girls go in every Friday and run calls. Whenever the sirens go off, they get pre-alerts to their phones of where they are going. They must be quick, but still get the job done right when responding to calls from university students and even some locals. When they arrive at a scene they check all vital signs. They look at the patient’s eyes, check blood pressure, and measure how much oxygen saturation is in their blood.
One call that the girls received was a woman who cut her foot open on a flying sign at the UMD pool. When they arrived at the scene the patient was hysterical. The woman had an arterial bleed, so Hill and Griffin both had to apply a device that is used to cut off the circulation in order to slow down the bleeding and quickly bandage her up. The biggest issue was that this woman was difficult to lift into the ambulance.
“The most nerve-racking thing is dropping a patient,” Hill said.
Griffin said her biggest fear is responding to a scene where someone is unconscious or out of it, and not being able to save them.
“A lot of times it’s your adrenaline, like you get to a scene and the person is helpless,” she said. “They need your help, and your adrenaline kicks in.”
They are both in the process of being able to work alone. Hill is interested in becoming an ambulance driver, and Griffin wants to work directly with the patient. They enjoy what they do because they get so much hands-on experience with students and adults.
“You’re there to help them, that’s really what it’s about,” Griffin said.