Yale Emergency Medical Services (YEMS) is a Dwight Hall student-led member group and a state-licensed EMS agency providing stand-by services at campus events and offering emergency medical technician (EMT) courses and workshops. YEMS members are Yale students who hold Connecticut state certification at the EMT level or higher. By offering standby medical coverage at campus events like sports events, the First-Year Dinner, or commencement, YEMS members get hands-on experience in medical services while ensuring the safety of these events. Courses range from a semester-long EMT training course to pop-up workshops that train students to perform CPR.
Through YEMS, students can take a semester-long EMT Certification Course as well as an EMT Refresher Course. These courses are taught by Shaun Heffernan, a Registered Nurse, Paramedic, and certified EMS instructor with over 30 years of experience in emergency response. YEMS also offers scholarships to students on financial aid who want to take the course. In addition to becoming YEMS members, students who have completed the certification can join another volunteer or even a paid agency.
In addition to the EMT certification course, YEMS offers CPR classes to any Yale group that wants to receive the training; FOOT leaders, for example, have been some of YEMS’ biggest participants, and YEMS administers CPR training to 150–200 FOOT leaders every year. YEMS also hosts Narcan training workshops for each new class of First-Year Counselors.
Jiya Mody ’27 leads YEMS as Chief of Service. “My job is to make sure that everyone has met all of their compliance standards and that they are trained properly,” Jiya explained. She also leads the logistics of YEMS workshops, courses, and training, from buying medical supplies to coordinating pop-up CPR workshops.
Jiya explained what a YEMS stand-by shift looks like. “Typically, at the start of the shift, half of the crew will go to Yale Health, which is our base center, and will pick up radios and the car we take to every shift, while the other half conducts a rig check to make sure they have the necessary equipment,” Jiya explained. Next, the YEMS team goes to the event where “people will come up to them for first-aid needs…occasionally, they will have to respond to a real emergency,” Jiya explained. In the case of a serious emergency, YEMS will call a transport service to bring injured people to the hospital.
“As EMTs, we are certified to administer a few medications. One of these is epinephrine for allergies and respiratory emergencies. We also treat with oxygen, and there are three medications to treat heart attacks that we can help administer,” Jiya said. “We can also assist people with nitroglycerin, a blood vessel dilator. We also help with asthma emergencies. The biggest kinds of treatments we provide are in cases of trauma, so in cases of uncontrolled bleeding, we can put on a tourniquet, and we splint injuries as well.”
Jiya explained that her most memorable YEMS shift was at an ultimate frisbee competition. “We surprisingly had a lot of patients, and we were able to provide them with great care,” Jiya explained. “We have a clearance process when you join YEMS, and you can’t independently work a shift when you are just starting,” Jiya said. “It’s been really fulfilling to see our ‘probees,’ who are our probationary members, grow. I really enjoy training them, and I got to do that on this shift.”
YEMS partners with other medical providers in the area to ensure excellent and comprehensive patient care. YEMS is under the oversight of Yale New Haven Hospital: “We directly contact them all of the time on calls; if we want to request an additional dose of Narcan, for example, we have to call them and ask if it’s okay,” Jiya said. At varsity sporting events, American Medical Response (AMR) takes care of player injuries, while YEMS is responsible for the audience, allowing for a working relationship between YEMS and AMR. YEMS also works with Yale Public Safety for large events such as commencement to make sure that its services are deployed in the right places. This year, YEMS is also working on strengthening its training programs by including transport EMS equipment.
Going forward, YEMS is excited to build stronger relationships with other volunteer EMS agencies in the area. “A lot of our members work for them, so we’re hoping to bring outside EMS agencies to do trainings with us and collaborate,” said Jiya.
“We’re really open to collaborating with other clubs and seeing if there are ways to expand our mission or do more outreach, especially with other Dwight Hall organizations,” Jiya concluded. YEMS is always looking for more students interested in its work and in providing services at more events.
Yale Emergency Medical Services (YEMS) is emblematic of the Engage pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model, supporting 87 student-led member groups and forging trusted partnerships with New Haven organizations through community-engaged service.
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