Student EMT Group Gains Respect and Admiration of Peers, Administration

and Community

Lancaster,PA.- The Intelligencer  highlights success of program. Helping fellow students at a moment's notice is what the newly created Diplomat Emergency Medical Technicians are all about. The DEMTs, as they're known on the Franklin & Marshall College campus, are volunteers who are trained and certified to evaluate and render immediate medical aid for students living in college housing."We assess you as a patient and provide the initial layer of care," said Edward Stene, a junior who was trained and licensed as a volunteer firefighter while in high school and now serves as chief officer for the 20-student team. The DEMTs are stationed in the Appel Health Services building on campus. A two-person team fills a 12-hour shift, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, when the health services center is closed. Stene, 21, said the team members have the same training and certification as any other emergency medical technicians."The only thing we cannot do is transport a patient," Stene said. The emergency-response program is managed by the students and operates with an annual budget of $2,000 under the oversight of medical director Marianne Kelly and Denise Freeman, director of environmental health and safety and a certified EMT. During their first semester of service last fall, the DEMTs handled 57 calls. Many of the weekend calls have been for alcohol-related injuries or illnesses, the student volunteers said. The team is in the process of obtaining its quick-response service recognition from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.