REMS wins national service award

By Amber Tong     9/25/14 7:22am

Rice University Emergency Medical Services was recently awarded the National Impact Volunteer EMS Service of the Year award, according to REMS Captain Mollie Ahn.

“We found out about the award a week ago and were incredibly delighted with the news,” Ahn, aBrown Collegesenior, said.

According to the website of National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the award recognizes outstanding performance by a volunteer EMS service.

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Ahn said being the first collegiate EMS organization to receive the award made it an especially great honor.

“I believe that this just highlights how much REMS has grown over the years and can serve as a recognition to all the dedicated individuals who've given their all to build it to where it is now,” Ahn said.

According to Ahn, REMS is special because it is a volunteer organization staffed by full-time undergraduate students.

“The organization itself calls for a large time commitment, which all our members have graciously given to allow the service to operate at the current capacity,” Ahn said.

According to Ahn, graduates of the team, who often build their career in the medical field, can utilize both their familiarity with the team and their expertise to design educational opportunities most suitable for REMS, enhancing the quality of its service.

“[Alumni involvement] allows us to have a continuous stream of training to always be improving in our skill set,” Ahn said.

Ahn said the quick turnover rate in REMS leadership has made accomplishing long-term goals difficult, thus the key to a more accomplished future lies in management and incremental changes.

“[L]eading REMS to an even more accomplished future will call for managing REMS to continue operating at a level of excellence and implementing changes to improve what already exists to further meet those long term goals,” Ahn said.

According to EMS World, REMS comprises 53 undergraduate volunteers, 20 alumni, six volunteer physicians and one staff member. In the 2013–14 academic year, Rice EMS responded to 590 campus emergencies.

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