“A win-win”: Student EMTs care for campus peers

Every weekend, members of the student-run Stanford Emergency Medical Services (StEMS) dedicate their time to staffing parties and events on The Row. The current team of 62 registered Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) work to ensure necessary emergency medical services for their peers.

“It’s a lot of work, but we enjoy what we do, and take real pride in what we do,” said John Corso ’27, StEMS’ director of operations. 

The organization has recently undergone changes to help the team keep up with “a cadence that is much more rapid and significant than [what] we’ve operated in the past,” said Corso. “We’ve expanded the scope of our services a lot.”

StEMS is nearing its 20th year of service, having started from a small group of students in 2007. They now operate under the oversight of the Stanford Department of Emergency Medicine EMS Division. While they previously worked with the Stanford Department of Public Safety (SUDPS), the group changed partners this summer due to its growth. 

StEMS is also working to digitize their medical records, modernize their medical equipment and update their uniforms — changes made possible by the Stanford Department of Emergency Medicine.

“At some of the events that we work, we are some of the first people to make contact with the patient when they are in, sometimes, one of the worst moments of their life,” said Julia Vu ’26, president of StEMS. “Being able to assist with that, whether it’s through certain interventions, even just providing reassurance … I think is a really big part in what drew a lot of people like me to StEMS.”

Eva Matentsian ’27, vice president of StEMS, said the common ground between the patient population and EMS allows “students [to] have more trust or feel more comfortable with [the EMT]. It’s not like we’re an authoritative figure, coming down on them,” she said.

“It’s a win-win situation, where we have people on campus that need medical services, and we can accomplish that at a very low cost … compared to going outside,” said program director Eric Marxmiller, a lecturer in the Department of Emergency Medicine. “The students actually get a huge benefit out of it, because they develop leadership skills, medical knowledge and training for them to take outside of the University or bring it back in.”

This year, StEMS is expecting to staff over 100 events. During spring quarter, they will work the BTS concert and Stanford Powwow, among other large campus gatherings. 

“I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about BTS. I now listen to BTS,” said Marxmiller. “There’s a lot of BTS planning.”

Corso said that StEMS’ work at large gatherings helps maximize efficiency in medical emergencies. Along with other EMS services, the group can serve as a first response to assess situations and relieve 911 calls from overstressed medical services. 

StEMS is a Basic Life Support (BLS) service rather than an Advanced Life Support (ALS) service. They are also non-transporting. At large concerts and sports games, they work in conjunction with other emergency services like the Palo Alto Fire Department to provide a full range of care to patients. 

Marxmiller also oversees Stanford’s EMT program, which provides EMT-certified students for StEMS to hire. The program helps students acquire a certification over the course of two quarters. Many members of StEMS are alumni of the program and return to help as Teaching Assistants (TAs).

“StEMS is genuinely a highlight of my Stanford experience. It’s such an awesome opportunity for students to really be involved on campus,” said Matentsian. 

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