Issue date: 6/7/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Ruth Rhyne Senior community health major John Tuohy fills out an inventory checklist while sophomore community health major Doug Chung checks the emergency medical bag contents. Tuohy and Chung often spend about 40 to 50 hours a week staffing the volunteer EMS office and ambulances.

Helping others in need at a moment's notice is all part of a day's work for Texas A&M's Emergency Medical Service (EMS).

Composed almost entirely of students, A&M's EMS provides ambulance service and emergency medical care to students and faculty on the Texas A&M campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said EMS chief and senior community health major John Tuohy.

Originally part of the Texas A&M Emergency Care Team, a student organization that is still active today, EMS became an official University service in the early 1990s, Tuohy said.

"Currently, we have about seven paramedics, four emergency medical technician (EMT) intermediates, and about 20 EMT- Basics," Tuohy said.

According to Tuohy, the EMS also employs several dispatchers who take 9-911 calls and send the ambulance crews to where they are needed most.

Tuohy said there is always one ambulance fueled and ready to go in case of an emergency, with its crew of three students waiting for the call from the dispatcher to send them to the scene of an emergency, which can range anywhere from a sports fan suffering from dehydration to more serious injuries including broken bones or people requiring CPR.

"The majority of our calls are traumatic injuries - lots of broken bones, broken ankles, dislocated shoulders," Tuohy said. "A lot of those have to do with intramural sports."

Tuohy said EMS receives around 800 or more calls a year. The majority of these calls are during the school year, while school is in session.

"We're up to 400 (patients) for this year so far," said Tad Smith, an EMT and senior psychology major. "That's just from the beginning of January, and that's not even counting the football season yet."

Smith said not all patients require medical transport after the EMTs have provided on-site medical care for them. In these situations, the patient can decide not to go to the hospital. He said EMS has an additional ambulance that ensures that any medical emergencies happening around campus can be quickly taken care of, while the other ambulance helps with any problems at the event itself.

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