Life in rural North Dakota has advantages, but many small towns suffer from a shortage of paramedics.  Several people from UND volunteer their time and expertise to meet the need for medical transport services, including Ben Hoffman, admissions director for the School of Law.

Hoffman is one of a growing number of UND staff and students who are becoming certified as volunteer emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.  He said paramedic training is difficult, and many people don’t complete it.

“There’s really no room for error when you’re working with a patient,” he said.  “You have to know your stuff.”  Post-9/11 homeland security measures require paramedics and other emergency personnel to meet higher standards, including more training hours.

Currently, five people from UND are volunteer paramedics for Valley Ambulance and Rescue Service.  Manager Jim Restemayer said he has been relying more upon UND students.  “We like students who were EMTs in high school,” he said.

Junior Cindy Morstad of Drayton, N.D., is one of those students.  Morstad is studying for her bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory science and hopes to continue her education so she can serve the growing need for health care as either a doctor or a psychologist.  After one of her high school classmates convinced her to take an EMT class, she served as a volunteer EMT during her senior year, and has continued her service at Valley Ambulance for the past three years.  Volunteers learn teamwork and how to interact with the many older people who live in rural North Dakota.

An automated external defibrillator (AED) can get hearts beating as soon as possible and save lives.  An AED is a small, lightweight device used to assess a person’s heart rhythm.  If necessary, it administers an electric shock to restore a normal rhythm in victims of sudden cardiac arrest.

Through a program from the Center for Rural Health at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, more than 550 AEDs have been placed in more than 180 rural North Dakota towns in the past four years.  Every county in the state has at least one.  When rural communities receive AEDs,  they are also required to train community members to use them.  Nearly 6,000 people have had the training.

The defibrillator program is supported with funding from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Rural Health Policy.  Program partners include the Center for Rural Health, North Dakota Department of Health Division of Emergency Medical Services, North Dakota Emergency Medical Services Association, and the North Dakota Healthcare Association.

For more information on the program, visit http://medicine.nodak.edu/crh.

“The Middle East has very specific issues with which the EERC has expertise, such as energy production, pollution control, and water supply and reclamation,” said EERC Associate Director for Research John Harju.  “This relationship will help further quantify a number of potential projects focused on energy and environmental topics in the UAE.”

“We are very excited about this outstanding opportunity,” said EERC Director Gerald Groenewold.  “The United Eastern Group scanned the world for the best in energy and environmental research, and determined that the EERC best fits their needs.”

Once initial research projects are established, the ultimate goal is to create a complimentary facility to the EERC in the UAE.  In partnership with the United Eastern Group, the EERC and the EERC Foundation will develop, operate, and transfer their unique market-driven business model and provide the technical expertise to the new UAE Energy & Environmental Innovation Centers.  The centers will research, develop, and commercialize sustainable energy, environmental, and water technologies.

“The United Eastern Group’s request for us to replicate the EERC in the UAE is a major compliment,” said Groenewold.  “They also have considerable investment capital available, which could greatly facilitate commercialization of EERC technologies throughout the world,” he said.

“Because of the entrepreneurial, market-driven culture of the proposed UAE Innovation Centers, their long-term impact on the regional economy will be substantial,” said Carsten Heide, deputy associate director for intellectual property management and technology commercialization.  “This opportunity will foster the creation of many new businesses in the UAE as well as in the United States.”

The Innovation Centers will also provide UAE’s young professionals with environmentally friendly, high-tech jobs and students with opportunities for hands-on experience.