John Carroll University on Thursday described to the University Heights City Council safety committee a student-led emergency medical services unit that responds to on-campus medical emergencies and serves as a training program for students.

Dr. Melissa Cole, dean of the College of Health at John Carroll University, said the JCU EMS unit is a non-transport basic life support first-responder team staffed by certified EMTs who are students. "We are a non transporting BLS first responder unit," Cole said, adding the program has been on campus for more than two decades and serves both as an educational opportunity and a rapid initial-response resource while transport-capable units are en route.

Cole said students and other campus callers may contact either 911 or JCU dispatch; the university’s dispatch number, given in the meeting, is 83971234. "Students on campus can call 911 or they can call our JCU dispatch," she said. When a JCU call comes in, university dispatch alerts the JCU EMS team and notifies 911 so both systems are aware and can respond.

The university partners with University Hospitals for training and runs a 12-week course that prepares students for the national certification exam and includes ride-alongs and clinical rotations, Cole said. She described disaster drills conducted with University Heights Fire and ride-along opportunities arranged to give students practical experience. Council members asked and Cole repeatedly clarified that JCU EMS is intended to operate on the physical campus; while off-campus student housing can be routed through the JCU number, the JCU EMS unit does not routinely provide off-campus response.

The presentation emphasized the educational mission of the unit and its role in immediate, initial care — for example, basic cardiac resuscitation and first aid — until a transport-capable ambulance or municipal fire department arrives. The committee thanked the university representatives for the informational session and asked staff to continue to coordinate on interoperability and training opportunities.

The meeting closed with the committee moving on to other items and taking no formal policy action on the university program at the session.