The Washington University Emergency Support Team was recognized with two honors from the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation, receiving the “Striving for Excellence Award” as well as receiving recognition as an “EMS Ready Campus” Feb. 25.

The “Striving for Excellence Award” is given to EMS groups that have demonstrated that they go beyond the standards for collegiate EMS. There are three levels to the Ready Campus program—bronze, silver and gold. Washington University EST received the bronze award, but they can be promoted at any time to the next level as they complete the program’s requirements.

Emergency Support Team member Gaby Gonzalez and her collegue rush to an intoxication call in Liggett Hall in 2014. EST recently received accreditation from the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation.

To apply, groups must meet a number of standards, including having a comprehensive insurance system through which the patient care reports can be reviewed and having a system to collect data based on those reports.

Emergency Support Team (EST) worked with the University Emergency Management Department in order to meet the qualifications—including mandatory trainings exercises the two groups designed in conjunction—that were necessary to apply for the award.

“[The award standards] include having a medical director and having good and consistent relationships with campus partners. It’s a very broad award that includes things that are both operational and administrative,” senior Suhas Gondi, the president of EST, said.

This year, seven colleges and universities received the “Striving for Excellence Award,” and only five were recognized as EMS Ready Campuses.

According to the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF) website, “The EMS Ready Campus program is designed to recognize excellence in emergency management and disaster preparedness of collegiate EMS organizations.”

This mainly includes having plans on how to handle a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI), defined as an event in which there are five or more casualties.

“EST, for a very long time, has been tasked with helping to provide emergency medical support to the University in the event of an MCI, so if there’s a natural disaster or a gun shooting on campus, we have to be prepared to respond,” Gondi said. “This award is given to groups who have very detailed and comprehensive plans on paper for how they would handle an MCI of some kind.”

In order to be accepted into the Ready Campus program, EST had to submit agreements with the University Emergency Management Department and the Washington University Police Department, as well as the local community.

“We had to prove to the national foundation that EST had done its due diligence to ensure that we, and the larger Danforth Campus, are prepared for any kind of emergency and can take care of patients who are victims of that emergency in an organized way that keeps everyone involved, including the medics, safe,” Gondi said.

Emergency Management helped with providing the documentation necessary for the application and build some of the required training exercises that members have to perform in order to be eligible for the program.

“We’ve been meeting with them on a monthly basis to make sure that they have the support from Wash. U. to be able to meet the qualifications,” Assistant Director of University Emergency Management Chet Hunter said.