USF's Medical Response Unit gets real-life experience during Hurricanes Helene, Milton

TAMPA, Fla. - There were hundreds of medical calls during Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and some of the first responders who answered those calls got real-life experience before they even graduated from college. It's part of the University of South Florida’s Medical Response Unit. 

"We have cold packs, hot packs, splints. We even had an obstetrics kit in case someone ends up giving birth on campus," said Joshua Szabo, an EMT and field training officer with USF’s Medical Response Unit (MRU). "In between our calls we like to restock all of our items, not to mention a lot of our items also expire. So, we always check our expiration dates between shifts and make sure we have enough of everything."

USF’s MRU are all certified and USF students, making up an all-volunteer team of 60 certified paramedics, EMTs and emergency medical responders.

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"It was one of the first ways I could get into actual medicine and that was something I was really excited about," said Szabo.

They usually load up their vehicle and go out on medical calls to treat students for free around campus.

"We’ve had a lot of people feeling very faint, passing out. They typically have a cardiac history," said Taylor Williams, an EMT and field training officer entering her third year with USF’s MRU. "I actually wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue medicine when I started college. But one of my roommates actually took the EMR course taught by a club here on campus, so I decided I would go ahead and do that to test the waters."

Williams, Szabo and their team recently stepped up their hands-on experience during Helene and Milton.

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"That was my first time being deployed as a disaster response team," said Williams.

As a disaster response team, they treated patients at a federal field hospital outside St. Joseph’s hospital and patients across three shelters in Hillsborough County.

"It was very difficult and interesting learning how to manage over 300 people with just a team of 16," said Williams.

They tested their skills on more than 300 medical calls during the hurricanes.

"There were a few patients I had specifically with Alzheimer’s, and they were just really excited that someone was paying attention to them and talking to them," said Szabo. "When we were in our off time, we would sit and talk to the patients a little bit."

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That time should serve them well when Williams, Szabo and the rest are ready to leave USF and start careers in medicine.

"I’m actually currently applying to medical schools. I’m not quite sure what specialty I want to go into, but I’m happy to see where it takes me and help wherever I can," said Williams.

Help is needed in Florida where there is a shortage of doctors and nurses, and their time on USF’s medical response unit gives them a head start.

"A lot of people see it as something abstract and to know I’ve been there, and I’ve been around other people like hurt students and everything like that, I think that the level of experience is going to be a big thing and being able to have that going in," said Szabo.

The USF’s MRU was first launched in 2020, and they are all volunteers working in different shifts. The team’s goal is to fill in the gaps on campus for free when students may hesitate to seek care because of the cost.

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