RIT Ambulance

RIT Ambulance
Established	1981
Staffing	Volunteer
Strength	65
Stations	1
EMS Units	2
EMS Level	BLS

RIT Ambulance (RITA) is a student run Emergency Medical Services organization at the Rochester Institute of Technology which responds emergencies. This organization serves the entire Rochester Institute of Technology campus and part of the surrounding town of Henrietta, New York. RIT Ambulance is a New York State Certified Ambulance Corps and a member of the National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF). RIT Ambulance responds to all medical emergencies on RIT property including the residence halls, academic buildings and apartment complexes. RIT Ambulance also honors a limited mutual aid agreement with Henrietta Volunteer Ambulance (HVA) which allows it to assist as a backup responder when Henrietta ambulances are unavailable. RIT Ambulance provides coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout the year except during institute closing during Christmas break. Organization staffing is provided on a volunteer basis by students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

History

RIT Ambulance receives its right to function from the New York State Department of Health, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the RIT Student Health Center. It originated from the Student Safety which in 1981 became a certified ambulance corps known as RIT Emergency Medical Unit. It has since been renamed to RIT Ambulance. For many years the RIT Ambulance Corps was only dispatched to emergencies by RIT Public Safety, but in 1993 became a Monroe County EMS subscriber. Subscription to the Monroe County system served to ensure that 9-1-1 calls on the RIT Campus would be appropriately routed to RIT Ambulance Corps rather than to the Henrietta Ambulance.

Vehicles

RIT Defib 63 shown in the foreground with RIT 6359 in the background.

RIT Ambulance operates two emergency vehicles

Both vehicles carry a variety of medical supplies and equipment including oxygen, defibrillators, albuterol, aspirin and epinephrine which allow life saving response to emergencies.

Organizational Structure

RIT Ambulance is governed by a constitution which defines two different organizational divisions. The Executive Board is the primary body for organizational oversight and personnel management. The Operations Staff is in charge of handling the day to day issues of the ambulance corps. The structure of these groups are listed below. The Executive Board is elected by the membership. Positions are filled every year at the annual meeting, and as vacancies occur. The only member of the Operations Staff that is elected by the membership is the Chief of Operations. The Chief is then responsible for appointing well qualified personnel to the Operations Staff for the positions of Deputy Chief, Lieutenants and Training Director. The membership then votes to ratify these appointments at the next monthly membership meeting. Meetings are held for both bodies on a regular basis. Generally, the Executive Board meets on a weekly basis while the Operations Staff holds meetings on a bi-weekly basis. The meetings are open to all that choose to attend except for small portions of closed discussion on private and sensitive issues.

Membership

RIT Ambulance membership is open to RIT students, faculty and staff. A current list of the complete membership is available. While anyone can be a member, a great deal of training and commitment is required to become cleared in a position. Members who have cleared are assigned a radio identifier and are allowed to work without a trainer on the ambulance or first response vehicle. A current list of the cleared membership is also available.

Positions

The following positions exist at RIT Ambulance

• Dispatcher - Responsible for coordinating radio traffic with the ambulance, additional responding units, Public Safety and the EMS dispatcher.
• Driver - Responsible for safely operating the ambulance in both emergency and non-emergency capacity. Must drive to a scene, assist with patient care, and transport to the hospital. Must have CEVO or EVOC training and complete an extensive training course.
• Medic - Responsible for patient care. Must be an NYS EMT-Basic and complete an extensive training course including epinephrine and albuterol usage and defibrillation.
• MCO - Medical Command Officer. Responsible for handling any operational issues during their shift. The MCO also responds to calls meeting specific criteria including: more than one ambulance is responding or mass casualty incidents, Hazmat incidents, confirmed structure fire on campus, motor vehicle accident with reported people trapped, vehicle overturned, or RIT Ambulance vehicle involved. An MCO can also respond to any RIT Ambulance call at his discretion but may not engage in patient care unless requested to do so or under extreme circumstances.
• First Responder - During times where the ambulance is out-of-service, a full crew can't be secured, RIT Ambulance runs a first responder program. All cleared medics can also allowed to first respond in an official capacity. First responders use their personal vechilies, or Defib 63 if they are also cleared as a driver, or have approval from the operational staff.

Anyone not cleared in a position is generally working in a trainee capacity towards clearance. There are varying levels of training and clearance as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures which are available in the documents section below.

Statistics

Detailed statistics are available at the following page RIT Ambulance Call Statistics

Documents

Listed below are the important documents for RIT Ambulance. These are links directly to the RIT Ambulance main web page. The application for membership is available in the paper form listed below but can also be completed online. Application for Membership Constitution Standard Operating Procedures

References

• The Official RIT Ambulance website