Have you spotted the new Catamount Emergency Care (Cat ECare) stations around campus? As part of the University's commitment to keeping our community safe, these stations are equipped with crucial resources: AEDs, bleeding control kits, and Narcan®. Every second counts in a cardiac arrest emergency, and an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is designed for anyone to use. With voice prompts and visuals, it empowers bystanders to act swiftly and confidently.
The CAT ECare program, in collaboration with the College of Nursing and Health Sciences’ Initiative for Rural Emergency Medical Services (IREMS) and UVM Rescue, proudly marked the installation of its 100th AED station this fall. But the initiative isn't just working to help save lives during emergencies: it's equipping UVM students, faculty, and staff to make our campus and communities safer places.
This semester, in just 59 days, Cat ECare delivered ten lifesaving courses, certified 18 new BLS instructors, and trained 56 students in CPR, Narcan administration, and the Stop the Bleed first-aid technique. To date, 566 campus community members are certified in Basic Life Support through the Cat ECare program.
UVM students are the heart of the Cat ECare program’s success, and student interns have as much input and decision-making ability as senior faculty and staff in the program, according to UVM Director of Emergency Management John Marcus, who launched Cat ECare in 2022 together with former IREMS director Pat Malone and Chris LaMonda, who currently oversees the IREMS training program. Student Cat ECare instructors have trained faculty and staff in many campus departments – including Student Life and Residence Life, Counseling and Psychiatry Services (CAPS), and campus clubs, especially those focused on outdoor activities. Last spring, 20 senior nursing students became instructors in Basic Life Support (BLS) through Cat ECare as part of their Public Health practicum.
Zoe Milne-Reynolds ’25 joined Cat ECare this fall as an intern as part of her senior capstone project, a unique aspect of the Public Health Sciences program that partners students with organizations that promote community health. Part of Milne-Reynolds' work in her role involves promoting the Cat ECare program's impact on campus and beyond.
“While the Cat ECare program provides many obvious, life-saving benefits for the UVM community, I am particularly proud of the more indirect impacts the program has had,” said Milne-Reynolds. “The program reduces cost and transportation burdens in receiving CPR/AED training and improves students' confidence in their abilities to respond in the event of a healthcare emergency.”
Cat ECare makes lifesaving training more accessible because it’s available on campus at significant cost savings - just $55 for Basic Life Support (BLS) and Stop the Bleed certifications and instruction in how to administer Narcan. Typically, BLS certification courses cost up to $200.
“These benefits extend throughout the community into the greater Burlington area where students live, work, and frequent regularly,” said Milne-Reynolds. “By educating and providing resources to a small population, the Cat ECare program is taking great steps towards improving the health of all of Burlington's residents.”
“As a public health sciences student, working with the Cat ECare program has been a really exciting opportunity because I've gotten to put everything that I've learned over the past four years into practice, in the form of a real-life public health intervention,” said Milne-Reynolds.
The public is invited to celebrate the installation of the100th Cat ECare station on Wednesday, November 6 at 4:30 p.m. in 111 Rowell Building. The event will include a short program highlighting Cat ECare’s evolution and impact.
Interested in getting certified in Basic Life Support? Learn more about the training online or by scanning the QR code on a Cat ECare station.
UVM's Catamount Emergency Care program has achieved the HEARTSafe Campus designation from the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation.