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High school students at Bosque School (NM) who are trained as emergency medical responders (EMRs) and technicians (EMTs) recently assisted at more than 20 COVID-19 vaccinations clinics and have donated more than 300 volunteer hours helping New Mexico reach the highest vaccination rate in the country in the spring. These students respond to a wide range of medical events in their community and at their school, including everything from removing splinters to administering an EpiPen during a life-threatening allergic reaction. They are members of the school’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). The group was founded in 2006 by students who wrote a grant application for $10,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to equip the school with basic emergency medical supplies. At that time, there was no school nurse, and two faculty members who were EMTs provided medical care as needed. The students thought that they could help both the school and wider community with their emergency medical skills and training.To volunteer in the MRC, students must complete 100 hours of formal training, which includes learning how to safely assess and treat sick and injured people. Training takes place through a local community college and the school—current MRC students assist in the training of younger members—and students are then licensed by the state as either EMRs or EMTs. They can assist patients struggling to breathe, administer certain medications, and more. At their school, they take the lead helping students manage acute and chronic medical issues, and they document all patient encounters.
Students help manage the program’s $5,000 budget, which is used for medical supplies and responding on average to 60 requests for medical services at their school per year. Students rotate being on call during the day and leave class if there is an emergency. They also use their medical skills at local shelters, sporting events, and asylum seeker intake centers. Last spring, there were 34 students in the MRC program.
Above: EMT Maria-Luisa Savino, a recent graduate, draws vaccine doses at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Bosque School (NM) during her senior year.
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