Team History
On November 25, 1992, John Reid, an undergraduate student, submitted a proposal to administration to establish a student emergency first response team at Trent University. The proposal was modeled after McMaster University’s Team, which was established in 1981. The need for such a service at Trent was supported by a mock emergency situation that took place in September 1992 when Fire, Ambulance and Police were asked to participate and respond to the situation. The response time by ambulance was 27 minutes. As the report noted ". . . It is generally accepted that once a person has stopped breathing or is without a pulse, a four to six minute window exists before irreversible brain damage occurs." The proposal provided a solution for the Trent community by introducing the notion of an on-campus first response team able to respond to emergency situations within the four to six minute time window. John Reid became the first Coordinator of the First Response Team in 1992-1993, and was charged with organizing a team of approximately 36 volunteers. The University financially supported the Team in its initial years.
Since its inception in 1992 TUEFRT has met many challenges, achieving positive results for the most part. On March 9, 1995 the Team reluctantly, but necessarily, disbanded and discontinued service for the remainder of the academic year. During this period, the TUEFRT Governing Board was assembled for the first time; a Team selection committee and procedure was established to select a new Executive, and a Team protocol was developed to help address some of the existing problems. Since that period the Team has been very successful in attracting dedicated and reliable volunteers from all colleges, and has worked hard to raise the awareness of the Team's service on Trent’s Symons Campus. The reputation of Trent Universities Emergency First Response Team has increased significantly as a result.
The awareness campaign during a student referendum in 1996 paid off when the Team was successful in securing a student levy that now provided annual financial support to the Team. In that same year, the Team traveled to Lakehead University at Thunder Bay, and placed second overall in the Provincial Emergency First Response Conference. In the following year the Team successfully hosted the conference at Trent University.
In the 2003-2004 academic year, the team planned and hosted the tenth National Conference of Campus Emergency Responders (NCCER). The conference was a resounding success, seeing many teams taking part in a first aid competition as well as attending seminars with medical professionals from various fields.
Moving into the 2004-2005 academic year TUEFRT took remarkable steps in improving the team's standard of care and its place within the university. With a concentrated effort by the Executive and the rest of the Team, TUEFRT proceeded to build a strong working relationship with the University departments and to further improve the Team’s image at large. After a successful proposal, approval was granted for the Team to begin operating at an Emergency First Responder (EFR) level of care, a significant improvement over previous training. This year also saw a total sweep of NCCER held at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, with competition teams bringing home first and fifth place and the team winning the team spirit award and team of the year, 2004-2005 was a banner year for the team.
In the 2006-2007, the Team once again proposed a successful referendum for a levy increase, securing the necessary funding to continue operations at the EFR level and ensuring that resources be available for continuous improvements to the team’s equipment and other assets.
TUEFRT hosted NCCER once more in 2007-2008, by all accounts raising the bar a second time. The following year TUEFRT placed third in the Association of Campus Emergency Response Teams (ACERT), MIXER conference. The team continues to move forward, fine-tuning and honing the skills of all its members.
In the 2013-2014 year new packs were bought. NCCER was attended. SafeTalk suicide training was completed for the first time.
In the 2014-2015 year the team was running well, with no financial trouble and a bevy of members. The office location changed from the LEC JCR to the OC basement. New equipment was bought including; KTD, KED’s, and boots.
In the 2015-2016 year the team secured a new office in the Student Centre. The area of coverage expanded to include the new residences on Water Street across from the school, as well as the Otonabee Annex on Argyle Street. A medical directive was issued allowing the team to carry and administer Epinephrine for anaphylactic emergencies. The team attended MIXER, placing 2nd and 4th. A proposal was put forth and approved by the governing board allowing TUEFRT to upgrade to Emergency Medical Responder status as of March 2016.
In 2017-2018 team team officially moved into the student centre, giving us a more central location to respond to calls and increased visibility within the community. The team attended MIXER hosted by the University of Waterloo where we placed 1st, and NCCER hosted by Carleton University where we placed 4th.