Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) won second place at the 4th Annual Yankauer Ironman Games on Nov. 8, competing to demonstrate mastery of EMS skills in one of the kickoff events for last week's National Collegiate EMS Week.
The competition featured various challenges that related to EMS knowledge and skills. "There were a bunch of events ranging from physical competition, such as a stretcher race, to a few EMS knowledge evaluations," said TEMS Technical Director Jonathan Ehrlich, a junior.
Seven teams, including TEMS, participated in the Yankauer Games at Boston University as part of the National Collegiate EMS Week, which the National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF) organizes annually.
TEMS sent five of its members to represent Tufts in the competition. Other competitors came from Boston-area schools including Boston University, which won first place in the games, Brandeis University and UMass Amherst.
TEMS also offered a free CPR certification class in recognition of National Collegiate EMS Week sponsored through a grant from Tufts Health Service, according to Ehrlich.
Approximately 20 students took part in the CPR certification course, taught by TEMS Executive Director Allie Krill. "We decided we would like to provide American Heart Association CPR certification to members of the Tufts community as an outreach for them to celebrate collegiate EMS week," said Krill, a senior.
National Collegiate EMS Week is dedicated specifically to college EMS organizations. Its date differs from that of National EMS Week, an event sponsored by Congress and the American College of Emergency Physicians, in order to fit into the college academic schedule, according to TEMS advisor Geoffrey Bartlett.
