St. Olaf EMTs present at conference
St. Olaf Emergency Medical Technicians (SOEMT) shared their work at a conference this year in Minneapolis.
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience to showcase our scope of practice as well as demonstrate some paramedic skills using equipment provided by Northfield EMS,” Amelia Christenson ‘25 says.
The SOEMT is a volunteer, student-run Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organization on campus. In addition to responding to medical emergencies and providing volunteer medical coverage, SOEMTs also offer classes on topics like CPR and first aid. For the last two years, SOEMT has received prestigious awards from the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF) in honor of the exceptional services provided on campus.
The SOEMT program has grown over the years, with more than 30 students currently volunteering and St. Olaf Professor of Biology and Chair of Health Professions Committee Kevin Crisp providing award-winning advising. Using their knowledge gained through this hands-on volunteer work, many SOEMTs go on to pursue careers in healthcare.
Five of the current SOEMT members presented at the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Conference, which provides high school students with information about career opportunities in health care.
“I had a blast sharing with so many of them the benefits I’ve had at St. Olaf — practicing hands-on patient care while contributing to the health and safety of our campus community.”
— Ian Di Mundo ‘26
“Many of these students did not know they could be EMTs in college. We shared what the community and camaraderie is like when being able to serve our St. Olaf campus as EMTs, and what balancing our service with a college lifestyle is like,” Christenson says. She adds that this insight was especially valuable for many of the students whose parents do not work in the health care field. “I do not have family in the health care field and would have loved to hear from college pre-health students like us before entering a college. They now have a better base for their pre-health career path plan.”
The SOEMTs were able to give students a firsthand account of the job opportunities available as early as college. They also provided lively demonstrations on mannequins that included intraosseous drills, CPR and cardiac arrest management featuring AED defibrillation use and bag-valve-mask use, Stop the Bleed kits, cardiac monitoring, and airway adjuncts.
“The benefit of our ‘skills-focused’ presentation allowed students the opportunity to try things they wouldn’t have imagined doing! There were so many curious minds with so many questions during the 45-minute presentation, and so many of them wanted to know how they would become EMTs,” says Ian Di Mundo ‘26. “I had a blast sharing with so many of them the benefits I’ve had at St. Olaf — practicing hands-on patient care while contributing to the health and safety of our campus community.”