Featured Course: Concepts of Emergency Health Services
Every day, thousands of paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and other healthcare workers nationwide provide emergency and primary healthcare to patients outside of a hospital environment. Working in a high-stress and fast-paced environment, the level of medical care, staff qualifications, type and condition of ambulances and supplies are all important aspects of what goes into Emergency Health Services.
This winter, students have the opportunity to explore the intricacies of the emergency medical field in EHS 200 – Concepts of Emergency Health Services. Learn about the operation of emergency health service systems, the history of EMS, the interface of public and private organizations, and review of the various personnel who constitute these systems.
“The major benefit of taking the course is that after taking the course, the student will have an overview of how EMS systems work so it builds a set of background knowledge for students pursuing a major or minor in Emergency Health Services.”
– Professor Jaeyoung Yang, Department of Emergency Health Services
Dwight Polk (UMBC): Helping People in Crisis
Dwight Polk, Paramedic Program Director for UMBC’s Emergency Health Services Department, gives a quick intro to his program, which is producing a new generation of paramedics trained in holistic pre-hospital health care, including mental health. Polk says, “There is no student anywhere in the United States, as a paramedic student, that gets the clinical exposure to mental illness and behavioral emergencies that our students do.”
EHS 200 is strongly recommended for pre-med students and other related fields in medicine or public health. However, this course is not limited to EHS majors/minors. Students of any major who have an interest may take the course as a good introduction to Emergency Health Services. The course also fulfills a Social Sciences GEP requirement.
“For non EHS majors and minors, it gives students knowledge about the the systems side of medicine that is usually not known or seen by the public.”
– Professor Jaeyoung Yang
EHS 200 is a fully online course that counts as a Social Science GEP and is a prerequisite for most EHS courses.