This weekend, St. Lawrence EMS will hold the most elaborate drill in our 31-year history! Over 40 members of the St. Lawrence community will participate in a multi-stage run-through of the school’s MCI (Mass Casualty Incident) protocol this Saturday at 2:30p.m. 

Normal SLU EMS drills involve only parts of the agency, and 1-4 “patients.” Past exercises include a staged 4-bike collision at the Avenue of the Elms, and an accident with multiple casualties at the Intramural Fields. 

Saturday’s drill represents a new era of in-house training. Going forward, our agency hopes to stage at least one exercise of this scale every semester to ensure every EMT and First Responder is completely prepared for any emergency on campus. 

For many seniors, this drill will be the conclusion of long collegiate EMS careers. Senior Class President and SLU EMS Crew Chief Cooper McCrillis commented on his time with the agency: “My time with SLU EMS has been unreal to say the least! The experiences helping fellow Laurentians in times of difficulty with fellow SLU EMS members is something I will never forget. The agency is like my second family, and we support each other day in and day out. I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with and my fellow SLU EMS seniors deserve lots of recognition for their dedication to the agency and their countless hours of service to this special campus.” 

In addition to his many leadership roles around campus, Cooper is also a driving force behind the upcoming MCI drill. He shared this about Saturday’s event: “The drill is extremely crucial to our agency as it makes sure we are well trained and prepared for any incident that may occur on campus. Our whole agency will be working together at once which promotes teamwork and helps us practice our MCI triage and treatment skills. Working a large-scale incident together also helps us figure out how we would communicate and utilize our chain of command structure to make sure all patients get treated quickly and with optimal patient care.”

As some of the challenges and limitations of COVID-19 begin to subside, we are looking forward to better serving you and the St. Lawrence community. While training is important, drills are only part of what makes an EMS agency successful and effective! Building trust and maintaining communication with students and faculty are just as vital. Keep an eye out next semester for updates and news about EMS drills and general operations! Please remember, we are here to serve and keep you healthy 24/7. Stay safe, and good luck with your finals!