When David Schanes, AS '89, and Stephanie Linton Schanes, AS '87, joined the University of Delaware Emergency Care Unit (UDECU) as students, they had no way of knowing their work with the college ambulance crew would lead them to their current careers as a police officer and an ER nurse, respectively.

David, who oversees the traffic safety unit with the Whitemarsh Township (Pa.) Police Department, joined the University's emergency care unit during the second semester of his freshman year. A member of the Coast Guard Reserves during his college years, Schanes says he decided he could fit in a volunteer gig with the UDECU in between classes and his other activities. "I like being busy," he says.

Founded in 1976, the UDECU responds to medical emergencies 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Everyone joining the unit must be trained as an emergency medical technician (EMT), and the unit's ambulance always is staffed with a minimum of two state-trained technicians. In addition to responding to emergencies that occur anywhere on campus, the UDECU also provides coverage at special events like football games and concerts. The unit also is called to stand by at events including the Delaware State Fair, the Delaware Special Olympics Games and the famed NASCAR races at Dover Downs.

"It was an interesting thing to be part of because we responded to anything that happened on University property to anyone--students, visitors, instructors," David Schanes says. "It was great experience and I liked the fact we were directly helping people." While he has not renewed his EMT certification, he says he considers his time with the ambulance unit vital to his current career.

Originally interested in working with the federal government, David joined the Arlington, Va., Police Department after his graduation from UD. After relocating to Stephanie's hometown of Lafayette Hill, Pa., in 1992--the same year the couple married--he joined the Whitemarsh department.

"In terms of the impact my work with the University's emergency care unit had on my postgraduation career, I think they're related and intertwined," David says. "The focus of both has to do with helping people--sometimes in life-and-death situations."

David's work as a police officer focuses on accident investigations; he is certified in accident reconstruction by the Institute for Law Enforcement Education.

Stephanie joined the UDECU during her junior year after reading a short article about it in the student newspaper, The Review.

"The ad said that they would train you on Saturday mornings to become an EMT, and that you would have to devote one night each month to being on-call," Stephanie recalls. "I had been thinking of volunteering with something, and this fit the bill."

Stephanie, who then aspired to be a science researcher, says she found the UDECU experience interesting and challenging.

"The University is like its own city," she says. "You respond to all types of calls--diabetic seizures, overdoses, heart attacks. It was a great learning experience and a great way to do something positive for the University while I was still in school."

Stephanie and David knew each other for many months as volunteers before they began dating.

"We were members of the squad together and got to know each other 'on the job,'" Stephanie recalls. "Our friendship grew from there."

Today, the couple has three children: Stephen, Kelly and Megan. During the summers of her junior and senior years at UD, Stephanie returned home to Lafayette Hill. She volunteered for the White Marsh ambulance squad, where she is still a member, serving as its quality assurance director.

After graduation, she went to work for nonprofit biomedical research agency as a writer and researcher. She continued to volunteer as an EMT with the White Marsh squad and before long realized that she wanted to expand her credentials and experience by becoming a paramedic.

While EMTs handle basic life support, paramedics are certified to render a higher level of medical care, including starting IV lines, administering medications, intubation and defibrillation.

And, that experience ultimately led Stephanie to nursing.

"During my paramedic training, we had to do some observation time at different hospitals in the area," she recalls. "I had never had any interest in being a nurse, but when I saw what went on and what vital work nurses do, I decided to go to nursing school."

Stephanie earned her RN diploma from Montgomery County Community College in 1992. She began her nursing career at Chestnut Hill Hospital as an ICU nurse and spent much of her career as an ER nurse at Mercy Suburban Hospital in Norristown, Pa. Currently, Stephanie is an emergency department nurse at Bryn Mawr Hospital, while also working part time as a clinical terminology specialist for Carescience Inc., a health-care management company.

"I never could have imagined where my interests would lead me," Stephanie says. "I know that my time as a squad member at Delaware played a big part in leading me to becoming a nurse and paramedic--and it introduced me to Dave. It's obviously had a very direct and positive impact on my life!"