Illini Emergency Medical Services, a program of the Illinois Fire Service Institute at Illinois, will be honored by the Congressional Fire Services Institute and Masimo, a medical device manufacturer, for excellence in emergency medical services. IEMS will receive the 2018 Excellence in Fire Service-based Emergency Medical Services Award at the 30th annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner on April 19 in Washington, D.C.
The award recognizes fire departments nationwide for developing and enhancing the delivery of emergency medical services to address the growing challenges in delivering emergency medical care. IEMS is the award recipient in the volunteer/combination category.
IFSI is the statutory state fire academy for Illinois. It serves as the oldest continuous fire training institution in the U.S. Established in 1978 as a student club, IEMS became a program within the institute in 2016. IEMS provides nontransport care to the 58,000 students, staff and faculty members at the U. of I. campus.
During its first year as an institute program, IEMS initiated a campaign to improve acute cardiac care capabilities within its service area. Elements of the program included compiling data on automated external defibrillator locations and operational status and conducting hands-only CPR training at public outreach events.
In 2017, IEMS trained 1,297 individuals in CPR, a 206 percent increase from 2016, and increased the number of active American Heart Association-certified CPR instructors from 16 to 19. The organization also added 42 AEDs around campus and created a system with PulsePoint technology to locate the AED nearest to cardiac arrest victims.
“We are very proud of the IEMS program at IFSI. This award recognition is the result of the hard work of IFSI staff and IEMS personnel as well as the support of the University of Illinois leadership,” said Royal P. Mortenson, the director of IFSI.
“This recognition shows the commitment that IEMS has to improving safety on our campus in innovative and noteworthy ways through partnerships with other groups on campus and improved technology like PulsePoint,” said Brian R. Brauer, the associate director of IFSI and IEMS advisor.
