As college students, we experience everyday stressors. Things like tests, quizzes, even daily homework assignments add to our ever-growing plates. Many students even involve themselves in much more than just schoolwork. Several are excellent student leaders or are involved in different musical ensembles and sports. Others, however, involve themselves much more in the surrounding community.
Many students, especially at Northwestern, are involved with services around the Orange City area. This includes everything under the umbrella, including jobs such as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and firefighters. One student Aydin Chhet has experiences in both of these roles.
The first question that may come to mind is how you can even juggle such big roles at such a young age. Aydin said that it really is not as difficult as it seems.
“The work of juggling being an EMT and classes is not difficult,” he said, “The first step for me was to talk to my instructors and explain to them that I do work in a field where I never know when I will get called in.”
He even went as far as to explain his time management when it comes to both things.
“I decided the best time for me to be on call was during nights so that I would not interfere with classes if I got paged,” he said. “However, that does not mean I have not left class to respond to a call. The main concept to understand is that when working on call if you get paged everything else stops and the call is your priority.”
With that in mind, it can be easy to assume that a student and EMT double life can be very stressful. Chhet says that that is simply just the name of the game.
“One thing you must learn as an EMT is how to not be stressed,” Chhet said. “However, the job itself can always be stressful. You never know what you’re going to walk into when you arrive to someone’s house. Calm yourself! If you panic, it won’t help your patient.”
Chhet even said that being a student EMT can be beneficial.
“One instance I can think of where being a young EMT was helpful was when I was called by a friend for a 911 call on campus during orientation weekend,” he said. “It was helpful to be an EMT because, instead of being a bystander, I could take points and lead the call in front of me.”
After hearing all of this, some of you may even be inspired to follow in Chhet’s path.
“To become an EMT a person must first apply for a certification course. These are held at different institutions, and I took mine through Western Iowa Tech in Sioux City over the summer,” Chhet said. “After passing your course, you have to schedule a proctored National Registry exam. Once you are certified by the National Registry, you send that into the state of Iowa and will get your license to practice as an EMT. It takes a lot of work and dedication.”
Chhet even shared his favorite part of his job. “My favorite thing is childish,” Chhet said. “I love driving lights and sirens in the ambulance.”
Without this type of service in our neighborhood, we would be at a loss of community, not to mention, a loss of safety. It is even more impressive and helpful that we can rely on people here on campus, such as Chhet, to help us in times of need. The next time you find yourself in doubt of your safety, remember that there is a wonderful community of students on campus that are trained to know how to help you.
