Emergency care unit takes top honors

The winning UDECU group includes (from left) Harlan Westgate, a senior criminal justice major; Megan Lieblein, a junior honors nursing major; Steve Snow, a medical technology sophomore; and Ross Cohen, a senior history major.

12:11 p.m., March 16, 2005--The University of Delaware Emergency Care Unit (UDECU) took two first-place awards, including “Best Overall,” in the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation Conference competition, held Feb. 26-27 in Philadelphia.

The National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation is a nonprofit professional organization that promotes the development of campus-based emergency response groups.

Founded in 1976, the UDECU responds to medical emergencies on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis. Besides responding to emergencies that occur anywhere on campus, the unit also provides coverage at special events such as UD football games and concerts.

In taking top overall honors in a field that included more than 600 participants from 67 colleges and universities, UDECU finished first in rescue, second in trauma and third in medical skills demonstrations as part of the overall skills competition. Joining UDECU were Georgetown University (second), State University of New York, Albany (third), Duke University (fourth) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (fifth).

A pair of four-member squads from UD took part in the competition. The winning UDECU group included Megan Lieblein, a junior honors nursing major, Steve Snow, a medical technology sophomore, Ross Cohen, a senior history major, and Harlan Westgate, a senior criminal justice major.

“We had to run through each scenario and had to meet certain criteria from the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians,” Lieblein said. “We had to assess a patient and provide treatment based on that assessment.”

Lieblien said UDECU members were especially pleased with winning a second straight Striving For Excellence Award. The award is given every three years to teams who meet national criteria for collegiate emergency medical services organizations.

“All the teams in the competition have the same interests in the same areas. That’s nice because it brings everybody together from across the country and gives us a chance to see how other organizations work,” Lieblien said. “It’s really nice to have an organization like this on campus and to be recognized on a national level for what we do.”

Dr. Joseph Siebold, director of student health services, said the latest honors for UDECU are part of a tradition that includes becoming the first recipient of the Striving For Excellence Award in 2002.

“The Student Health Service has always had an excellent and highly valued relationship with UDECU members who give so many hours of volunteer first-responder and ambulance transport services to the campus and the Newark community,” Siebold said.

Jack Lynn, an investigator with UD’s Department of Public Safety who serves as adviser to the group, said that UDECU members not only put in a lot of hours but also perform a service that extends beyond UD’s Newark campus.

“We transported a patient from Delaware Park and did standby unit duties during the floods last year that devastated the Glenville community,” Lynn said. “I think our kids do an awesome job.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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