Kean students work as EMTs during the Coronavirus crisis

By Erin McGuinness | Published by April 17, 2020

As the number of positive COVID-19 cases rise in New Jersey, some Kean University students are on the front lines working to keep their communities safe.  

Kean Students Mouaaz Hassan, a sophomore majoring in business, and Samantha Miller, a junior majoring in communications are emergency medical technicians with their local first aid squads.  

Mouaaz, who works for Newtown First Aid Squad, has been working around the clock, he said. As an EMT, Mouaaz responds to calls for emergency medical assistance, providing medical support and often taking the patient to the nearest hospital.  

“I live in Sussex County and the first lady who died in the county as a result of COVID-19 was my patient,” Mouaaz said. “I remember everything about that call.”  

Mouaaz can still remember the look in that woman’s eyes as she said goodbye to her husband and child before being taken to the hospital, he said. At the end of that day, she was pronounced dead.  

“Most of my friends always ask me if I’m scared of getting sick or hurt,” Mouaaz said. “To be honest, what scares me the most is bringing the virus home and my parents or brother getting sick.”  

The most difficult part has been watching patients say goodbye to their families, some for the last time, he said.  

The amount of personal protective equipment available to Mouaaz and his fellow EMTs, including N95 masks that filter 95 percent of airborne particles, has been dwindling. Mouaaz has been using the same mask for over a month, he said.  

Miller, an EMT for Springfield First Aid Squad and Atlantic Health Systems, has been having a similar experience. At one of her jobs, she uses the same mask throughout her entire shift since supplies are limited.  

Demand is higher for EMT workers in her community of Springfield in Union County as older and at-risk volunteers have left their positions to keep the virus from spreading.  

Before COVID-19 began spreading, Miller typically worked six to 12 hours a week at her volunteer position for the Springfield first aid squad. She is now putting in about 18 hours, she said. In addition, as an EMT for Atlantic Health, Miller works two to three days a week.  

“It’s hard now because the patients are even scared to go to the hospital and like I totally get it because I’m scared to go, too,” Miller said.  

Picking up patients in the ambulance and dropping them at the hospital is a process that used to take about 45 minutes, Miller said. Now, with the extra precautions being taken to limit the spread of the virus, it can take up to three hours. Miller used to go on one to two calls in a 12-hour shift. Now in an 18-hour shift, she responds to up to eight calls.  

“When I’m not working I have my radio on I have a radio at home with me and I keep it on all day,” she said. “There’s just times where it’s like four calls will come out in like a minute.” 

Once, she left in the middle of a class video chat to answer a call when her team was understaffed and overwhelmed.  

Miller has been able to balance her coursework with her EMT positions, she said. For Moaaz, balancing his classwork has been difficult as he often has to leave class to go on a call and provide assistance.  

“If I hand in work late or I have to leave in the middle of an online class I get points deducted and my grades go down,” he said. “When I try to explain to my professors of the current situation and why I have to leave or hand in work late, they do not seem to care.” 

The two students, despite their fears, continue working their positions out of a passion for helping others. 

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