UNC Charlotte group pushes for creation of student led EMS team

UNC CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A group of UNC Charlotte students want to bring better care to their classmates. The group is pushing for a student led EMS program on campus.

Nick Maynard, a senior at the university, is leading the initiative and believes an on-campus EMS organization made up of students could be life saving for the university. Maynard has put together a small group of students who say, if approved, a student EMS team could provide EMT level care to anyone in need on campus.

Maynard notes that UNC Charlotte currently has an established police department made up of state police. Maynard says those officers respond to emergencies, but cannot always provide EMT basics care. UNC Charlotte currently relies on MEDIC to respond to all health related emergencies. Maynard believes student rescuers stationed on campus could help with MEDIC when comes to response times. “We don’t want a situation in which a student has a medical emergency, and all the response units are tied up because, you know, our population is so big,” Maynard said.

North Carolina schools like UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, Appalachian State University, and Duke University offer their own version of similar student led EMS organizations. Each of those universities requires students to be EMT certified in order to apply. Maynard says the standard would be the same at UNC Charlotte. “They just have to have the right amount of training,” Maynard said. Maynard is already a certified EMT through his time as a volunteer with Idlewild Fire Department which recently closed its doors.

The student group pushing for on campus EMS says the creation of the program is still in the early stages. So far a petition to gauge interest has raised nearly 300 signatures from students. Maynard’s group has also met with the director of MEDIC and some UNC Charlotte staff to discuss how to go about approving student rescuers, as well as to make an argument for why the organization is needed. The students expect the university’s Student Government Association to submit a resolution supporting the start of student EMS by Thursday of next week. Maynard hopes to speak directly with the university Chancellor to better determine the proper steps for getting a student EMS team approved.

WCCB was able to reach a UNC Charlotte spokesperson who said more details will be shared soon.