Who Are We?

Many of us in our past can say we've been in an ambulance before, whether it was for a sports injury, appendicitis, or something else. However, it is not often that we think about the people who give their time to EMS. These people make big sacrifices to help others, a truly selfless act that takes a brave person.

Amongst the students here at Nanuet, a few of us go above and beyond the norm and have become members of EMS. Katie Mitts, a junior, has been involved in Nanuet EMS for about eight months as of October. She first volunteered as a way to help familiarize herself with her chosen career of a nurse or a nurse practitioner. She said, "I want to help people as a nurse when I'm older and doing EMS is a good start." Her hours are somewhat demanding. During the summer she would work about seventeen hours a weekend, but when school is in session she works five hours a weekend.

While on duty, she has to help assess the best way to handle different situations. Her job is to ask the EMTs what they need and go in and decide what the patient needs. "We have to figure out if each patient needs ALS (advanced life support) or BLS (basic life support). With ALS, the paramedics are needed, but with BLS, the EMTs and I can handle it." Everything always stays interesting at EMS for Mitts, especially when, "a car flipped over once" she says, "That was pretty interesting."

In order to become a member of EMS, Mitts says that there is a decent amount of training involved. "First, you have to go through a CPR class that is five hours long. You also need to go to a bloodwork-pathogens class, which involves needles and blood." Mitts explains that this class is very important to take because it is important to not get infected. "Finally, you have to know the ambulance and where everything is in it, a rig check basically."

Finally, responsibility is key for members of EMS. "My job is to really learn but help as much. Personally, I want to be hands on helping the patient," remarks Mitts. "I know most of the things, but I can't do IV's, I just help really." All the time spent with EMS helps Mitts become more experienced and learn the ropes for her chosen career.

This commitment is rigorous, but Mitts wants to help out and feels a sense of satisfaction when helping her community. "While in EMS, you meet a lot of nice people, and you're helping your community which is a great thing to do to contribute positively to society," Mitts says. She encourages all to get involved to make Nanuet a better place.

Article printed from The Knight Times: http://www.nanuetknighttimes.org

URL to article: http://www.nanuetknighttimes.org/student-life/2010/11/23/who-are-we/