1:41 p.m., March 25, 2009----Jeff Sands gets out of his ambulance to help an injured person in need of assistance. With a life on the line, Sands and his trained crew remain calm and do whatever it takes to make sure the person is all right.

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Once the objective is completed, Jeff and the team are thanked for their work.

“Are you a doctor?” the rescued person asks.

“No,” Sands replies. “I'm just a junior.”

Sands is the coordinator of the University of Delaware Emergency Care Unit (UDECU), a registered student organization on campus comprised of approximately 50 undergraduate students who provide emergency medical care and volunteer ambulance coverage to UD and the surrounding Newark community around the clock.

UDECU members recently attended the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation conference in Arlington, Va., and won first place in the Physio-Control EMS Skills Competition and the Striving for Excellence in Campus EMS award.

Their longtime adviser, Jack Lynn of public safety, also received recognition for his 35 years of service, as he is preparing to retire.

The Physio-Control EMS Skills Competition featured teams of four from 35 different colleges and universities that competed in the basic life support category. The challenge consisted of two real-life medical scenarios and one team-building exercise. The UD team won the competition for the first time since 2005.

Sands was one of the four participants on UD's team for the competition.

“We were very excited,” Sands said. “Everyone was jumping up and down, making fools of ourselves. Then we got up and got the award.”

The Striving for Excellence in Campus EMS award is a self-evaluation in which groups are eligible for every three years. The UDECU had to fill out a 13-page application that evaluated member training, and asked what makes it stand out among other collegiate EMS organizations.

Sands said the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation is composed of all the collegiate EMS organizations from across the country and more than 900 students from 91 colleges and universities attended the annual conference.

The UDECU was founded in 1976 after a student, Kevin O'Neill, '78, was dissatisfied with the emergency care his roommate received when he had a seizure. He approached Lynn, a new member of the UD Police Department at the time, about being the adviser to help start the organization. Together, they converted a dining services van into an ambulance to shuttle people to student health.

After a year, the organization received enough funding to buy a van that they converted into an ambulance in Lynn's driveway. In 2000, Lynn was instrumental in getting a custom built ambulance for the UDECU.

Sands said all the students who are involved are volunteers and are required to work 12 hours a month, via two six-hour shifts.

Some volunteers, including technicians and drivers, who are higher in demand, put in many more hours every month. The UDECU is staffed at all times with at least two Delaware state and nationally registered emergency medical technicians.

The UDECU has responded to more than 420 calls each of the past five years and has made 56 runs in the first two months of 2009.

“We're very unique as far as student organizations go, as our purpose is to provide emergency care to our fellow classmates and Newark, and it sets us apart,” Sands said. “Our members are really, really dedicated and put in a lot of hours.”

In addition to handling 911 calls and providing EMS coverage at sporting events, ceremonies and concerts on campus, the UDECU has been seen around the state of Delaware, including at the Delaware State Fair, the Delaware Special Olympics and NASCAR races at Dover Downs.

Article by Jon Bleiweis
Photo by J Stewart