Members of the Hokie Nation may rest easy, knowing that if a medical emergency arises on campus, they will be cared for by the some of the best providers in the nation. 

The Virginia Tech Rescue Squad performed exceptionally well at the 24th annual National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation conference, receiving awards and recognition for the following Emergency Medical Services skills competitions:

  • 1st place, Basic Life Support Skills Competition (second year in a row)
  • 1st place, Mass Casualty Incident Skills Competition (second year in a row)
  • 2nd place, Advanced Life Support Skills Competition (second year in a row)

“We take very seriously the responsibility to be prepared for all levels of emergencies and institutionalize readiness through rigorous, daily training,” said Virginia Tech Rescue Squad Chief Chris Eyestone, a senior from Blacksburg.  “It’s a proud moment, knowing that our hard-working volunteers are among the most elite in the collegiate space,” he added.

The conference was held Feb. 24-26 at the Baltimore Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. More than 1,200 representatives of campus-based EMS organizations from over 110 colleges and universities across the U.S., Canada, and Jamaica attended the conference.

This is the tenth consecutive year that members of the rescue squad have attended the conference.

When they were not competing, members of the squad, who are all full-time undergraduate students at Virginia Tech, spent two days participating in lectures, roundtable discussions and panel interviews about pre-hospital medical care, trauma, disaster preparedness, emergency management, and leadership education.

At the next conference, Feb. 23-25, 2017, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the squad will renew their “EMS Ready Campus” designation.

The Virginia Tech Rescue Squad has served the university community since 1969 and is the oldest collegiate rescue squad in Virginia and the second oldest in the nation. The squad has 40 student members who perform the same functions of a municipal rescue squad and handle about 1,200 calls per year.

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