Help with EMT club

[Oregon]

Oh dear, next week is the Clubs fair at the community college. This wouldn't be a big deal, except I've been so excited about the SAR conference that starts tomorrow that I forgot about the clubs fair.
And, I am of course President of the EMT Student Association.
(It's a student club, not a provider of care.)
I confess, after three of these things last year, I'm running short of ideas about what to do to make our table interesting. Usually we just haul one of our broken old mannikens over on a gurney (yep...it was a gurney. Got a totally new cot this year.) But that's what we always do, and now the EMT classes take place on another campus, so any equipment must fit in my car.

I really need some help on ideas for what to do, bring, say.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. No, really, any suggestions.
The theme is "college Survival", which at least means we won't have to watch the student government types limbo for two hours. (Last one was tropical themed.)
I'd ask the new members to get in and help, but school started this week...I'm pretty sure they have no idea there is an EMT club.
Crud, I don't think I could even fit a backboard in my car. The ambulance we have would probably explode if I tried to drive it between campuses.
I could just lash a backboard to the top of my car...would that be a whacker-mobile or what
Help, please. I'm desperate.

 

[gillysaurus]

I'm the president of my EMS club, too!

So you're just doing on table for EMS at a fair whose theme is "college survival", right?

What about...
-Giving out information about alcohol poisoning (symptoms, what to do, when to call EMS)
-Bringing in information for your county about drunk driving (statistics, how to get a good DD, how to be informed about dangers of drunk driving, who is most at risk)
-If your school has had a substance problem in the past (my university has), you could bring in information regarding that substance, it's effects, how to identify it, how to be safe, etc.
-If you do have the supplies for it, you could bring in things that you would hook up to a pt. who had severe trauma from a drunk driving accident (cot, backboard, c-collar, IV bags with blood pumps, get a bunch of kurlex).
-Do a bunch of backboarding demos to show that getting injured in an accident is no comfortable matter (relate it to drunk driving).

ALSO:
Since you're a club, and you said you don't even know if a lot of EMT students know the club exists (such a shame, EMS club is a great resource!), use this opportunity to recruit!
-Have information about EMS Club
-Have information about your school's EMT program
-Be ready to answer questions about the benefits of joining an EMS Club
-Know of volunteer activities/study groups/etc. that EMT students can join through EMS club

And this goes for both education and recruiting categories, if your school and/or ambulance service has any free stuff (EMS keychains, EMS pens, magnets about alcohol poisoning, stickers, emergency phone number lists) BRING THEM. This is a great way to lure people into your table and give them something so they won't forget who you are.

I'll let you know if I think of anything else ^_^

 

[Sasha]

And this goes for both education and recruiting categories, if your school and/or ambulance service has any free stuff (EMS keychains, EMS pens, magnets about alcohol poisoning, stickers, emergency phone number lists) BRING THEM. This is a great way to lure people into your table and give them something so they won't forget who you are.

I'll let you know if I think of anything else ^_^

Or to lure them to your table you could have star of life cookies! Woohoo!

 

[Hastings]

Or to lure them to your table you could have star of life cookies! Woohoo!

Or - I hope this isn't an inappropriate comment - free condoms. Now, before you scold me for saying so, that's a medical concern these days of that age group. Plus, free condoms get a crowd around that table.

Or, you know, cookies work too, I guess.

 

[Oregon]

Or to lure them to your table you could have star of life cookies! Woohoo!

In a separate basket from the condoms, of course, or I'd start having bad "Coneheads" movie flashbacks

These are great ideas, thank you!

Any more?
Community college audience, semi-rural area (I used to watch the deer browsing in the cow pasture next to the school.) Trying to get them interested in EMT club/EMS. And I really don't think I can fit any big equipment into my car to transport it up from our campus to the main campus. So backboards and cots are out, unless I tie 'em to the bumper...B)

 

[Sasha]

Or - I hope this isn't an inappropriate comment - free condoms. Now, before you scold me for saying so, that's a medical concern these days of that age group. Plus, free condoms get a crowd around that table.

Or, you know, cookies work too, I guess.

I like that idea. OP said the theme was college survival, well certain STDs can kill you dead (Years and years down the line, but still kill you dead.)

 

[Sasha]

In a separate basket from the condoms, of course, or I'd start having bad "Coneheads" movie flashbacks

These are great ideas, thank you!

Any more?
Community college audience, semi-rural area (I used to watch the deer browsing in the cow pasture next to the school.) Trying to get them interested in EMT club/EMS. And I really don't think I can fit any big equipment into my car to transport it up from our campus to the main campus. So backboards and cots are out, unless I tie 'em to the bumper...B)

Ohohohoh. If someone hits a deer by accident you could totally immobilize, intubate, IV-itate it and display it, kinda of a woohoo look what we can do! thing.

As for the transportation issue (Not that I dont think cot surfing from the back of a car isnt the coolest idea ever) can you borrow someones big truck? And flop it into the bed? Or a uhaul? Arent those things pretty cheap?

 

[mycrofft]

If you can get them..giveaway totes and goodies (penlights etc)

If it is appropriate/effective, aim for the kids! The parents will follow. Giant chipmunk in a safety vest and stethoscope?

 

[marineman]

I guess I'm not 100% sure what an EMT club is or does. Is it like the hundred other clubs at a college where you meet and do EMS related activities around the school or is it more like a study group for EMT students?

My only idea is if you have a half body CPR mannequin that you're able to intubate, that would fit in the car then just toss a blanket over a table and you're all set. If you have a lung sound machine bring that and a few extra steths and let people listen. Also maybe offer free BP readings at your table to get practice for yourself and your helpers and talk about the club while people are there.

 

[Oregon]

Nothing much

Our EMT club got a bad run of "don't do that" from a higher up, so we kind of went underground for a while.
Our EMT club runs a study hall for EMT classes and the pre-req's for paramedic school (A&P, Chemistry, whatever) there are always people who've got their Basic or Intermediate still on campus taking other stuff, so we all study together. We have volunteer/paid position recruiting nights, with reps from local agencies. We have speakers come in from other jobs that want EMTs/Medics besides the Fire and Ambulance companies. We have medic school reps come recruit.
We're trying to get some inter-school EMS games going (got shut down last year, trying again this year.)
We round up volunteer victims for the State/National practical exams.
We do informal case reviews, provide info about conferences (and scholarships to those.) We go to the State EMS committee meetings, the local State Trauma Advisory Board meetings, etc. We vent, and I usually make a batch of cookies and maybe some cupcakes.
You know, stuff. Club stuff. I actually have no idea what the other clubs on campus do, I'm not really a joiner. This is the only club I've belonged to for 20 years.
We complain a lot.
I rarely ever interact with the other clubs on campus, but I think we need to be a bit more visible, so that's why we go to the clubs fairs.
Thank you all ever so much for the gobs of good ideas.
I'll let y'all know what grabs their attention the most.

 

[flhtci01]

Do you have access to an AED trainer? This is something that they have seen on the wall but not much more. You cue it go through the steps and since has it's own 'voice' it might 'hook' people to your table. You could then tell them more about your club. You can always hook it to the mannie.

 

[Oregon]

Ooooh....good one. We've got AED trainers coming out our ears....fits neatly in my car, perfect.