McMaster’s Emergency First Response Team is back in action

Travis Nguyen/Photo Editor

After a year of inactivity, the McMaster Students Union Emergency First Response Team is running again

According to their Facebook page, the McMaster Students Union Emergency First Response Team is “a 24/7 service that provides confidential medical care to anyone in need on the McMaster University campus.” With approximately thirty volunteers working to provide emergency medical services, EFRT has been a fixture on campus since the 1980s.

EFRT is a group of undergraduate students who are trained to respond to a variety of medical emergencies. According to EFRT Program Director Ivy Quan, all EFRT volunteers have been trained as first responders and emeregency medical responders under the Red Cross. Some of the more senior members of EFRT have further medical training as well. 

During the 2020-2021 school year, EFRT was inactive due to COVID-19. 

“[EFRT wasn’t] really on call last year because campus was closed and everything moved online, so the responders weren't in Hamilton to run shifts,” explained Quan. 

According to Quan, EFRT dedicated its time over the course of the last year towards training a new batch of responders. This year, given that campus has reopened, EFRT is back on call. 

“We do have to put in a lot of steps to make sure that our responders as well as the patients that we see are safe [from COVID-19],” said Kiran Roy, EFRT's public relations coordinator. 

According to Roy, these safety steps involve mandatory personal protective equipment training for responders, mandatory masks for patients and bystanders — unless a mask would interfere with treatment for the patient — and two different rounds of COVID-19 screening questions. 

Roy and Quan both emphasized the importance of the role that EFRT plays on campus. 

“We know our way around campus because we're part of the university,” Roy explained. 

This allows EFRT to get to calls very quickly, making the response time faster for patients.

Along with the logistical benefits of calling EFRT, Roy and Quan both stressed the emotional benefits as well. 

“I think it probably creates a sense of ease amongst the patients that we meet because they know that we're just like them and we're also students. We understand what they're going through from a mental health point of view,” said Roy. 

According to Quan, EFRT receives approximately 500 calls a year. While many of these calls are medical emergencies, their role on campus goes beyond this as well. 

“We also do a lot of calls to, [for example], first years, who are worried about something; we also are a mental health service,” explained Quan. 

“We may be an emergency response team, but if anyone is unsure about their health, [unsure about] their safety, even just a little bit not sure what's going on, they can always call us and we're happy to come,” said Roy. 

Applications to join EFRT will open in early October and the recruitment process will take place from October to January. 

“We're so excited to be back on call,” Quan said.

As EFRT responders welcome a year of getting back into action, McMaster students can also look forward to seeing the team all around campus once again.