Spring 2024 Voices and Stories

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Member Group Spotlight: Yale Emergency Medical Services
by Frank Horrigan ’26
Yale Emergency Medical Services (YEMS) strives to create a safer campus by providing
emergency medical services and educational community initiatives. We are a student-run,
state-licensed EMS agency that provides standby coverage for athletic and campus events as
a part of Yale Health. We also provide extensive training and certifications to the Yale
community.
The core of YEMS activities are our medical standbys:
making sure our peers are taken care of in case
anything happens. You might have seen us at all kinds
of campus events, from intramural soccer games to The
Game to Commencement. For our members, it is
cheering on our friends at a game while being there to
make sure they are okay that excites us.
Our shifts start with a crew gathering in Yale Health to
check out our gear and get to know each other.
Sometimes, we are with people we have worked with
before, and other times, we get to meet someone new.
Once we are all set, we head over to our standby and
introduce ourselves to the event officials, coaches, and
players. It is always great to see their comfort and
appreciation in knowing that we are waiting at the
sidelines, ready to help in case anyone gets injured. And
then we wait! When things are going well, we take the
time to train and watch, staying vigilant for anyone who
needs assistance. If we see something or are waved
over, we dash in to assist, treat, and call for transport as
necessary.
We are also committed to providing training and practice opportunities for our members.
During downtime on shift, we always train and practice important skills so that our
members stay prepared for any situation. For members who want exposure to a wider
variety of calls, they can perform clinical ride-alongs in New Haven, exploring and giving
back to our surrounding communities in the process. We also cover operations and skills
lessons during our regular YEMS-wide meetings, where we sometimes have special guests
like Heidi, our campus Public Safety service dog!
Beyond promoting a healthy campus through our medical standbys, we provide extensive
training and certifications across the Yale community. You may have seen us in your
residential colleges or on Cross Campus teaching CPR to spearhead our HEARTSafe
Initiative. So far just this semester, we have also collaborated with other groups to offer a
suture clinic, a Narcan awareness training, and a Stop the Bleed class on top of our
semesterly EMT class. We appreciate all of those who have joined us to learn how to make
our campus a safer place!
There are several ways you can join YEMS on our mission to improve campus health and
safety. If you are already a CT-licensed EMT (or have passed the exams and are waiting for
processing), you can join as a member, where you can work on our medical standbys and in
our committees to plan YEMS community outreach, educational initiatives, mental health
workshops, social events, and more. We also recently started an associate membership
program to enable all motivated Yale students to work in our committees and observe
shifts as space permits. If you are interested, please refer to our website (ems.yale.edu) for
more information, and check out our Instagram (@yale_ems) to keep up with the most
recent events.
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