Duke EMS Alumni Requesting Our Organization's Reinstatement

Duke University EMS provides an invaluable service to the Duke community. When a medical emergency occurs on campus, EMTs from DUEMS consistently arrive well in advance of Durham County EMS and provide essential emergency medical care. In the case of a critical injury or illness, this prompt response can be truly life-saving. Duke EMS also has a positive impact on its members by training future clinical leaders and encouraging community service. The cessation of Duke EMS's operations is detrimental to the health and safety of the Duke community and deprives students of a truly unique opportunity for learning and personal growth. Duke EMS should be reinstated as soon as possible. Respectfully, Ben Applebome Trinity 2009 DUEMS 2005-2009

Duke EMS has offered years of dedicated, passionate, professional care with an intricate connection and familiarity with the Duke community that cannot be replaced by the existing county structure. This decision was made by Durham County administrative action, not by the street-level DCEMS providers that benefit from our service on a daily basis. Duke EMS also provides students a critically important opportunity to interact with patients in a setting that can never be recreated in academics, and the existence of Duke EMS is a huge asset for Duke's mission to produce high-quality, service-oriented aspiring health care professionals. Thomas Bunning Trinity BS '15 DUEMS '12-'15, Training Officer '14-'15, NC EMT-Paramedic Duke University School of Medicine, Class of 2020 Orange County EMS, 2014-Present

Duke Rescue 1997-1999; DUEMS 1999-2001 Training Officer 1998-2001 BS Trinity '01 I was fortunate enough to be in the second generation of members and officers of this organization, and can say without a doubt that both during and after my time at Duke it has been a strong force in my life. We saved lives *every single year*, lives that in at least one case would have been lost had help arrived even a few minutes later. Why settle for basic, statutorily acceptable emergency response when for 23 years members of your own community have been consistently stepping forward to provide that extra layer of security and saftey? These students, like all those that came before them, are showing a dedication to their community and developing a sense of service through action that will last their entire professional lives. My career has taken me in the direction of data analysis rather than direct patient care. My time spent taking care of my fellow students, the faculty, and staff in dorm rooms, classrooms, research facilities, gyms, libraries, on the sidewalk, in the gardens, in Cameron, in Wade, in the Bryan Center, along nearly every road in the campus network, and in one of my most memorable experiences during the Hallelujah Chorus in the Chapel's annual Messiah singalong, stays with me every day and is part of the driving force that I use to inspire my own research as I continue to insist that my professional life have a constant element of social impact, and an aspect of assisting those who are not in a position to assist themselves. I learned to think, act, and feel like that while a member and officer of DUEMS. The campus deserves the best protection they can be afforded. The students, current and future, who will provide that service deserve the opportunity to learn and grow. Finally, the university deserves to be known as the institution it is - one that champions not only the highest levels of knowledge, but also one that teaches that only whe

Pratt BME '17 Duke EMS '15-'17 Wilderness EMT

Jordan Kaylor, MD Trinity '08 Duke EMS '05-'08 Former NREMT-P Currently: Assistant Professor Department of Emergency Medicine Emory University School of Medicine

Trinity 2007 DUEMS 2003-2007 Durham County EMS 2007-2009 Carolinas Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency 2015-2018 Carolinas Medical Center EM EMS Fellow 2018-2019

DUEMS, '15-'17 UNC School of Medicine, Class of 2021

Duke EMS plays an important role in giving future doctors and healthcare professionals an opportunity to gain experience serving patients, so that they can make an informed decision in their career choice. It also enriches the Durham and Duke community by providing an added level of support to the Durham EMS. Duke EMS and Durham EMS are stronger together, building upon each other's strengths and giving space where each other is weaker. Duke EMS '03-'06 P'05, GS'06

Michael Cheung, MD DUEMS '02-'06 Emergency Medicine (Board Certified)

Jessica Hudson, MD MPHS DUEMS ‘05-‘08 T ’07 Duke Med ‘12 General surgery resident, Washington University in St Louis

DUEMS was one of the most meaningful experiences I had during college and has been a tremendous asset to the Duke University community over the years. To render this organization defunct is unconscionable. DUEMS '12-'15 Duke University School of Medicine, Class of 2021

I was proud to volunteer my time as a member and officer of Duke EMS for 2 years while attending Duke University. I believe that Duke EMS offers a critical service to the university, an opportunity for students to learn leadership, and an opportunity for students to serve the Duke and Durham communities.

Duke EMS taught me not only how to treat patients with difficulty breathing, and chest pain, and seizures, and so on. Perhaps more importantly, it taught me how to stay calm when the person in front of me is experiencing potentially the worst emergency of their life, how to calm another person's fears with only my voice and body language, how to be an effective teammate, and how to have confidence in myself and my ability to lead. Duke EMS helped me to develop into the best version of myself. I am currently a medical student near the beginning of my year of clinical rotations, and I have experiences, skills, and confidence in interacting with patients that very few of my classmates have. I have little doubt that the experiences I had with Duke EMS, and the things I learned from its cast of passionate and compassionate EMTs, will influence the way I interact with my patients for the rest of my life. Duke EMS is not only a vital service to Duke University, but an invaluable training ground for future healthcare professionals. Alex Hish DUEMS ’14-’16, Assistant Director ’15-’16, NREMT-Paramedic Duke University School of Medicine Class of 2020

Duke University EMS plays an important role in the Duke Community and provides unique benefit to both its residents and the Durham County public safety system. DUEMS has been able to respond to calls faster than other agencies, thus being able to provide high quality care early and triaging care such that the county's resources are not occupied unnecessarily. From an alumnus's standpoint, DUEMS serves as a nurturing community that teaches its members the importance of community service, leadership, teamwork, and professionalism-all of which carries into the future roles that its alumni hold in the world. Please recognize the importance of DUEMS serves in both Duke and Durham, and reinstate it as soon as possible. Tiffany Dong Duke University School of Medicine Class of 2019 Duke Class of 2015, DUEMS '12-'15

Duke EMS is a keystone species in the Duke ecosystem – its value is indisputable. We consistently arrive on scene faster than any other responding agency, providing high quality care and reassurance to individuals experiencing the most frightening minutes of their lives. The organization provides unmatched training in leadership skills and clinical judgement, while simultaneously immersing its members in a mentorship pool that guarantees success in their future endeavors. Perhaps most impressively, DUEMS members, while typically undergraduates themselves, are able to provide a sense of stability and security for the larger Duke community simply through their very presence on campus. The impact of Duke EMS must not go unnoticed, and the intolerable actions that have rendered this upstanding organization inactive for over two months must be immediately reversed. We, the alumni, are watching. Krishan Sivaraj DUEMS ’11-’15, Director ’14-‘15 UNC Medical School Class of 2020

DUEMS provides a vital and lifesaving service to the university, medical center, and surrounding area. Their partnership with DCEMS allows for significantly faster campus response times for basic life support/EMT level care, freeing up county resources when not medically necessary. For calls ultimately necessitating advanced care and transport, timely DUEMS interventions have been life saving. Denying this service to the Duke community is negligent. From a student organization perspective, DUEMS provides an incredible and unique opportunity to develop service oriented values that are vital to the impact Duke alumni make on the world. Brandon Jones DUEMS 2000-2004 P'04, MEMP'05

Providing comprehensive 911 services on Duke's campus is a significant challenge that requires a team approach. Duke University EMS is a valuable part of this team as its members are often able to respond to calls before city/county responders. During my tenure on the squad, I frequently responded to calls in advance of city fire or county EMS units and was able to either expedite patient treatment or determine that transport was not necessary and cancel the ALS response, keeping these valuable units available for other patients. I believe that DUEMS is a necessary part of Duke's campus safety team and returning the squad to full operational capacity should be the top priority of the leadership of Duke University, Duke Healthcare, and Durham County EMS. Eli Wilber, MD DUEMS '11-'13, Crew Chief '11-'13, Former NC EMT-I Resident Physician Department of Internal Medicine Emory University

Duke University EMS is an invaluable resource for the Duke and Durham communities. It provides a necessary service in supporting Durham County EMS in fulfilling its mission. DUEMS also promotes community service among Duke students, training them to be future leaders in emergency services, medicine, and public health. Their role in EMS should be reinstated as soon as possible. Byron Ho, MD DUEMS '09-'12, Director '11-'12, Former NC EMT-P Resident Physician Department of Dermatology Johns Hopkins Medicine

Duke EMS (DURS) 1994-1996, T ‘95 Currently: Associate Professor, Surgery Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management University of North Carolina

The members of DUEMS have always promoted a culture of excellence and service. DUEMS has provided outstanding care to the Duke community and, during my tenior on the squad, was responsible for providing critical first response for many patients well in advance of the City’s ability to arrive on scene. I urge the Duke administration to support DUEMS to reinstate service. Additionally, as an alumnus, the squad was integral in helping develop leadership skills and clinical judgment, as well as connecting me to an invaluable mentorship network. Just look at the list of DUEMS alumni which includes innumerable successful physicians, researchers and health care leaders (Including some who have made the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Healthcare). Sincerely, Daniel Frendl, MD, PhD, Urolgoy Resident, The Massachusetts General Hospital, T ‘08, DUEMS ‘05-‘08.